CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF 
THE UNITED STATES 



MAJORITY REPORT 

OP 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
ON EDUCATION 



PARTICIPATION OF 

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

IN EDUCATION 



Frank J. Loesch, Chicago, 111. 
John G. Lonsdale, St. Louis, Mo. 
Henry S. Pritchett, New York, N. Y. 
Henry D. Sharpe, Providence, R. I. 
James J. Storrow, Boston, Mass., Chairman 



NOVEMBER 20, 1922 



MAJORITY REPORT 

OF 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
ON EDUCATION 



CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF 

THE UNITED STATES ^r^zlLsl 



MAJORITY REPORT 

OF 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
ON EDUCATION 



PARTICIPATION OF 

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

IN EDUCATION 



Frank J. Loesch, Chicago, 111. 
John G. Lonsdale, St. Louis, Mo. 
Henry S. Pritchett, New York, N. Y. 
Henry D. Sharpe, Providence, R. I. 
James J. Storrow, Boston, Mass., Chairman 



NOVEMBER 20, 1922 



UVi"^ 



coC^ 






PARTICIPATION OF THE FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT IN EDUCATION 



RESOLUTION OF 
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

This Committee was created pursuant to the follow- 
ing resolution of the Board of Directors of the Chamber 
of Commerce of the United States : 

"The resolution adopted by the Civic Development 
Department Committee recommending that the Board 
submit to a referendum the subject of education, the 
participation of the Federal Government in education 
work, and the correlation of the education work of the 
Federal Government to other activities of the Federal 
Government was considered, and it was voted that the 
President be authorized to appoint a Special Committee 
on Education to consider the questions involved and 
report to the Board." 






PARTICIPATION OF 

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 

IN EDUCATION 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 

The Questions Before Us 

By far the most important subject submitted to this 
committee is the question of Federal participation in 
education. 

Shall the states continue to maintain and be respon- 
sible for the public schools of the country? 

Shall the National Government take over the support 
and control of the schools? 

Shall there be a divided support and control, partly 
vested in the National Government and partly vested 
in the states? 

These questions are not academic. They are of the 
utmost practical importance and they are now before the 
American people for decision. 

For a decade, and with especial vehemence since the 
war, a nation-wide propaganda has been carried on 
looking toward the gradual transfer of responsibility 
for the support and control of our public schools from 
the state, and local unit within the state, to the Federal 
Government at Washington. 

If we travel this road we shall end with a great bu- 
reaucratic machine at Washington having its Secretary 
of Education in the Cabinet, its Assistant Secretaries 
of Education, and a horde of bureau chiefs and clerks 
and three-quarters of a million of Federal employees 
teaching in the schools and bossed by several thousand 
field inspectors, supervisors, and other petty traveling 
officials. 

[3] 



General Considerations 



Federal Board for Vocational Education 

This nation-wide propaganda succeeded in 1917 in 
securing the passage of its first bill and created at Wash- 
ington a special Federal Board to control vocational 
education. This National Vocational Board is' now 
operating from Washington, disbursing Federal money, 
laying down regulations, controlling, inspecting, and 
dictating the manner in which vocational education 
shall be carried on by the states, the cities and towns, 
and other local educational units. 

Sterling-Towner Bill 

Now comes the Sterling-Towner Bill, prepared by 
collaboration between representatives of the National 
Education Association, and representatives of the Amer- 
ican Federation of Teachers, composed of those teachers 
who have joined the American Federation of Labor. 
This bill was introduced at the request of the National 
Education Association and the American Federation 
of Labor, hearings were held and it was favorably 
reported in the last Congress by the House and Senate 
Committees on Education, but failed to come up for 
action before the end of the session. It has again been 
introduced during the present Congress and is now in 
the hands of the Senate and House Committees. 

Sterling-Towner Bill Most Radical Step 
Towards Federalizing Schools 

This Sterling-Towner Bill, which constitutes a long 
and radical second step towards federalizing the schools 
of the country, calls for the appropriation of the round 
sum of one hundred million dollars, of which $7,500,000 
is to be expended for teaching illiterates, $7,500,000 for 
Americanization work (chiefly teaching illiterates be- 
yond school age English and to read and write), $20,- 
000,000 for physical training, $15,000,000 for training 

[41 



General Considerations 



teachers, and $50,000,000 to raise the pay of teachers 
throughout the country.* 

Framers of Constitution Intended to Leave 
Education in Hands of States 

The Constitution does not mention education, and 
nowhere gives the Federal Government authority to 
direct or control education. As this power was not 
reserved by the Constitution to the Federal Govern- 
ment, it is clear that the framers of the Constitution 
deliberately intended to vest in the states the power to 
establish, maintain, conduct, and control education. 
This does not mean that the framers of this Federal 
democracy failed to realize the importance of edu- 
cation, but that like many other activities vital to the 
welfare of our people they believed education could be 
carried on with better regard to the interests and wishes 
of the people, with better adaptation to local needs, 
and with greater efficiency and more economy if left 
to the states than if it should be federalized and so 
controlled and conducted by Federal oflBcers located at 
the National Capital. 

Dangers of Federal Control 

Great is the danger of handing the power of controlling 
the ideas and ideals of the growing generation to a 
group of bureaucrats located far away at the seat of 
government. 

They may willfully do great damage. They may 
unwittingly sow seeds on a nation-wide, scale which will 

* The language of the bill is $50,000,000 "to equalize educational op- 
portunity." These words of the bill are certainly vague, but the under- 
standing among the proponents seems to be that this $50,000,000 is to be 
used to raise the pay of teachers. 

"The appropriation for the equalization of educational opportunities 
will contribute $50,000,000 annually to this end, and while the same is 
relatively small (adding less than $100 to the salary of each teacher), it 
will operate upon the basis of a public sentiment already alive to the 
imperative need of raising teachers' salaries." (Keith and Bagley, "The 
Nation and the Schools," p. 285.) 

[5] 



General Considerations 



fructify only after many quiet years of germination so 
that the noxious weeds can perhaps be eradicated only 
by the slow growth of public reaction after grievous 
injury to our body politic. 

Germany to her ruin and sorrow has reaped her har- 
vest from seeds quietly sown in her schools for many 
years by the Berlin bureaucracy. The world's history 
is strewn with the wreck of governments whose dis- 
integration began when the people saw the local control 
of their dearest concerns taken away and concentrated 
in the hands of a bureaucracy at the seat of empire. 
The creators of our Federal Government clearly foresaw 
and wisely undertook to protect us from the inefficiency 
and the dangers of over-centralization. 

Control of Schools for the People Should 

Remain Near the People 
The genius of our people should and must control our 
schools. There is nowhere else to place this trust. But 
if our people are to control our schools and to cause 
them to be sensitive to their ideals, to their varying 
needs from year to year and from locality to locality, 
those in charge must be near them, accessible to them, 
and responsive to them. A vote once in two or six 
years for a member of Congress or a Senator who is to 
live at the seat of government far from home, and who 
must be elected to attend to a hundred other things and 
can therefore rarely be elected on an educational issue, 
coupled with the rigidity which would almost certainly 
be attained by the managing bureaucracy at Washing- 
ton, would make our school system about as sensitive 
and responsive to the average man as a ton of pig iron 
to a tack hammer. 

Constant Practice in Local Self- 

GOVERNMENT VlTAL 

Moreover, if our government is to survive, if these 
100,000,000 people, soon to become 200,000,000 people, 

[6] 



General Considerations 



made up of racial stocks from many countries, embody- 
ing many varying degrees and forms of civilization, 
and of governing knowledge or rather lack of knowledge 
of self-government, are to succeed in maintaining and 
carrying on this great Federal democracy, it will only 
be by the constant practice of local self-government 
in things which vitally concern them. Our people 
should have constant practice in critical local affairs, 
in affairs which are not matters of comparative in- 
difference but of such vital consequence that the people 
of the community will be hurt, and seriously hurt, if 
they are not conducted properly. These alone will 
teach each succeeding generation and the millions of 
less experienced people arriving from foreign shores 
what good government is, what bad government is, and 
how to secure the former. 

Self Help Builds Character and Citizenship 

The doctrine of self help, the idea that the things we 
get for ourselves are the best things we possess, that 
sturdily striving to care for ourselves builds character 
and citizenship, seems recently to have evaporated 
from the minds of many. They seem to think that 
each local group of American citizens should stand 
around like a Greek chorus waiting for the gods at 
Washington to make the next event happen. 

Federal Control of Public Education Inevitable 
Under Sterling-Towner Bill 

Many of those who advocate the Sterling-Towner 
Bill urge that Federal control or interference with our 
public school system will not result from the passage 
of the bill. 

This Sterling-Towner Bill did not spring up over- 
night, and it is perhaps significant that as originally 
framed with great deliberation by its present sponsors 

[7] 



General Considerations 



and pushers, it directly contemplated a high degree of 
Federal control just as is now being actually exercised 
by the Federal Board of Vocational Training in dis- 
tributing its Federal money. 

There have now been inserted in the bill, however, 
specific words stating in effect that the Federal Govern- 
ment shall not interfere or endeavor to control the ex- 
penditure of the money which it is to turn over to the 
states. 

Apart from the fundamentally unsound policy of 
having A levy the taxes, collect the funds, and then 
wash his hands of all responsibility for the expenditure 
of the funds by 5, it only takes, we think, a moderate 
experience in affairs to realize that people are bound to 
be sensitive to the views of the dispenser of their annual 
largesses even though his wishes are not embodied in 
words of command but are conveyed in terms of sug- 
gestion and recommendation. 

But right at the outset and on the face of the bill, its 
proponents are trying to sit on both sides of the fence 
at the same time, as another part of the bill sets up 
certain standards which the states must meet and 
maintain if they are to receive Federal money and the 
new Cabinet officer, the Secretary of Education created 
by the bill, is given authority to withhold the money 
from any state which fails to meet the standards. 

But really common sense is sufficient without argu- 
ment to tell us that if the six hundred thousand teachers 
of this country find themselves on the Federal payroll, 
they are going in the long run to be subject at least to 
a dual influence and a dual control. Besides, if the 
Sterling-Towner Bill passes and six hundred thousand 
teachers begin looking to the Federal Government for 
fifty million dollars of their pay, why in their opinion 
should the Government stop at a fifty million bonus? 
The argument for a second fifty million will be almost 
exactly as good as for the first and the desire of the bene- 

[8] 



General Considerations 



ficiaries probably not a whit less. Certainly the new 
Secretary of Education who will be in contact with the 
President as the head of one of the great political parties 
and with his fellow Cabinet officers and other political 
leaders and with the appropriation committees of Con- 
gress, will not need to speak much above a whisper to 
have his perhaps quite recently acquired views as the 
holder of a quite recently acquired office sway the whole 
course of public school education. Moreover the pro- 
ponents of the Sterling-Towner Bill are, in our judg- 
ment, handing the teachers of the country poisoned 
fruit because for each dollar received from the Federal 
Government five dollars will be held back by the states 
and local authorities waiting for Uncle Sam to make 
the next move. 

National Education Association 

We differ in this report from views officially formu- 
lated by the National Education Association and set 
forth by its official representatives at the hearing on the 
Sterling-Towner Bill. We do so with entire respect. 
The National Education Association is performing great 
public service in crystallizing and making known to 
us the views of those engaged in public education. 
In its arguments urging Federal pay for teachers it is 
helping the American people to realize the sound public 
policy of more generous compensation for teachers in 
the public schools. In stressing the dangers of illiteracy, 
of the need of Americanization and making known to 
the American people the shortcomings of their school 
systems, they are helping to accelerate the constant 
forward march of our public schools. 

Quick Remedies Not Always the Best 

We admire the impatience of the teaching profession 
with the defects of our public schools and we sympa- 
thize with their viewpoint that to get a quick remedy 

[9] 



General Considerations 



for some of these defects they desire to call the National 
Government to their aid. 

Bryce, a thoroughly sympathetic as well as perhaps 
the most profound student of Democracy of our genera- 
tion, well describes this impatience: 

"Reformers, impatient with the slackness and 
parsimony common among local authorities, have, 
however, been everywhere advocating State {i. e. 
National) intervention, insisting that the reluctance 
of the local citizen to spend freely makes it necessary 
to invoke the central government, both to supervise 
schools and to grant the money from the treasury 
for the salaries of teachers and various educational 
appliances. Here, as is often the case, the choice is 
between more rapid progress on the one hand, and 
the greater solidity and hold upon the average 
citizen's mind which institutions draw from being 
entrusted to popular management. (Bryce, "Mod- 
ern Democracies," p. 436.) 

Danger of Hasty Generalization 

Hasty, ill-considered generalization based upon in- 
complete assembly of the facts and superficial study of 
the facts is the plague of the world. 

We shall endeavor now to marshal what seem to us 
to be the more material facts bearing on this question 
and to consider them in some detail. He who wishes to 
arrive at a sound conclusion on this complex subject 
must examine many facts. There is no short cut to a 
sound opinion. 



[10] 



HAS OUR PRESENT SYSTEM OF 
EDUCATION BROKEN DOWN? 

Proposals for participation of the Federal Govern- 
ment in the support and control of public education 
are based upon two premises : 

First: That under the present method of support 
and control by states and communities our 
system of education has broken down; and 

Second: That some of the states are too poor to pro- 
vide a fair standard of public education for 
their people. 

These are serious charges and deserve serious considera- 
tion. We shall therefore consider these questions in turn. 

Throughout the history of our national life the public 
school system has been entirely under state and local 
government and has been dependent almost exclusively on 
state and local support. Under these conditions it has 
developed with constantly increasing effectiveness into a 
system which, in spite of all its defects, represents an 
achievement in education unparalleled in any other 
country. 

It is the tendency of over-zealous proponents of 
change in any field of human endeavor to overlook 
substantial merits and to exaggerate defects. Advo- 
cates of a revolution in our methods of support and 
control of public education have so directed attention 
to defects in our present system that we are in danger 
of overlooking its merits. It is necessary, therefore, 
to review briefly the great development of public edu- 
cation within the past fifty years. 

Progress in Education Under State and 
Community Control 
increase in scholars 
The following table shows the growth in scholars 
under state support and control since 1870 : 

[111 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 



Year 


Pupils Enrolled 


Average Daily 
Attendance 


1870 


6,871,52£ 


4,077,347 


1880 


9,867,505 


6,144,143 


1890 


12,722,581 


8,153,635 


1900 


15,503,110 


10,632,772 


1910 


17,813,852 


12,827,307 


1918 


20,853,516 


15,548,914 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 4.) 

Tlie increase in scholars attending our public high 
schools also has been amazing. 



Year 


Pupils Enrolled 
in Public High Schools 


1870 


80,227 


1880 


110,277 


1890 


202,963 


1900 


519,251 


1910 


915,061 


1918 


1,645,171 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletinll, 1920, p. 4.) 



IMPROVEMENT IN DAILY ATTENDANCE 

In 1920 the U. S. Commissioner of Education de- 
scribed the progress made as follows: 

"No field in education, with the possible exception 
of school revenues, has in recent years been more 
prolific of progress as regards legislative provisions 
than has compulsory school attendance. 

"Within the past decade the seven states which 
had previously enacted no laws on the subject all 
enacted initial requirements, and they and various 
other states have by this time made their laws 
stronger and extended their application." (U. S. 
Commissioner of Education, Annual Report, 1920, 
p. 77.) 

[12 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 



INCREASE EJJ 


ATTENDANCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 


Year 


Per Cent of Children 
Enrolled Attending Each Day 


1870 


59.3 


1880 


62.3 


1890 


64.1 


1900 


68.6 


1910 


72.1 


1918 


74.6 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 5.) 
INCREASE IN LENGTH OF SCHOOL YEAR 

There has been a steady increase in the length of the 
school year. 

Average Number of Days 



Year 


Schools were in i! 


1870 


132.2 


1880 


130.3 


1890 


134.7 


1900 


144.3 


1910 


157.5 


1918 


160.7 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 5.) 
INCREASE IN NUMBER OF YEARS OF ATTENDANCE 

There has been, also, a steady increase in the average 
number of years children remain in school. 



Year 


Average Number of Years of 
200 Days Children Remain at School 


1870 




2.91 


1880 




3.45 


1890 




3.85 


1900 




4.67 


1910 




5.40 


1914 




5.64 



We call attention to the increase in the South Atlantic 
and South Central States shown in the table following. 
Although the average in these states is below the average 

[ 13 ] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

in the other groups the relative progress raade has been 
much greater. This reflects to a large extent the effect 
of more schooling for the negro population. 



NUMBER OF YEARS ATTENDANCE BY DIVISIONS 


Divisions 


1870 


1880 


1890 


1900 


1910 


19H 


The United States .... 


. 2.91 


3.45 


3.85 


4.67 


5.40 


5.64 


North Atlantic Division . 


. 4.43 


4.84 


4.99 


5.91 


6.38 


6.64 


North Central Division . 


. 3.71 


4.19 


4.67 


5.57 


6.28 


6.47 


South Atlantic Division . 


.80 


1.90 


2.42 


2.95 


3.93 


4.23 


South Central Division . . 


.80 


1.57 


2.20 


2.91 


3.77 


3.95 


Western Division .... 


. 2.77 


3.57 


3.98 


4.99 


6.29 


6.80 



(U.S. Bureau of Education, Annual Report for 1916, Vol. 2, p. 6.) 
INCREASED EXPENDITURES FOR EDUCATION 

Do the expenditures by the states and local govern- 
ments for public education show that they are stinting 
the support of the schools as is alleged by those who 
claim our present method of state and local support has 
broken down? The increase in expenditures for public 
schools since 1870 has been as follows : 

School Year Total Expenditures 

1871 $63,396,666 

1880 78,094,687 

1890 140,506,715 

1900 214,964,618 

1910 426,250,434 

1918 763,678,089 

1920 1,103,651,201* 

(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 4.) 

According to these figures the expenditures for the 
pubhc school system of the country increased from 
$63,396,666 in 1871 to $1,103,651,201 in 1920, or more 
than sixteen times, while the school population during 
the same period increased slightly more than three times. 

SOURCES OF FUNDS 

Local taxes are the mainstay in the increasing cost 
of the public schools. 

* Obtained from Bureau of Education. 

[141 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 



SOURCES OF FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL PURPOSES, 






1890-1918 






Income of Permanent 




All Other 




Funds & Lands 


Local Taxes 


State Taxes 


Sources 


Total 


1890 $7,744,765 


$97,222,426 


$26,345,323 


$11,882,292 


$143,194,806 


1895 7,800,740 


118,915,304 


34,638,098 


15,210,769 


176,564,911 


1900 9,152,274 


149,486,845 


37,886,740 


23,240,130 


219,765,989 


1905 13,194,042 


210,167,770 


44,349,295 


34,107,962 


301,819,069 


1910 14,096,555 


312,221,582 


64,604,701 


42,140,859 


433,063,697 


1915 17,079,977 


456,956,495 


91,104,045 


24,511,076 


589,651,593 


1918 21,517,040 


580,619,460 


101,305,057 


33,434,885 


736,876,442 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 4.) 

In the 28 years from 1890 to 1918 local taxation for 
public schools increased from $97,222,426 to $580,619,460 
or 498 per cent. In 1890, 67.9 per cent of the support 
of the public schools was paid by local taxation and 
18.4 per cent by the state. In 1918 the figures were 
78.8 per cent for local taxation and 13.7 per cent for 
the state, showing that contributions from local taxation 
have made the faster growth. 

INCREASE IN VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY 

The increase in the value of school property is not 
less remarkable, the increase being from $130,383,008 
in 1870 to $1,983,508,818 in 1918. 



Year 


Value of School Property 


1870 


$130,383,008 


1880 


209,571,71^ 


1885 


263,668,536 


1890 


342,531,791 


1895 


440,666,022 


1900 


550,069,217 


1905 


733,446,805 


1910 


1,091,007,512 


1915 


1,567,391,225 


1918 


1,983,508,818 



(U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin 11, 1920, p. 4.) 
[ 15 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION 

Not only has there been a notable increase in the 
quantity of education given our children since 1870, 
but even more notable has been the improvement in 
the quality of our schools; better teachers, better text- 
books, better methods of instruction, better buildings 
and equipment; the whole spirit of our public school 
instruction has been revolutionized in the past fifty years, 
or even within the past two decades. Within a brief 
period of time we have seen the real development of the 
kindergarten, a new science of educational psychology 
with less emphasis upon learning from books and more 
emphasis upon learning by doing, the introduction of 
manual training, of drawing, of music, school gardens, 
playgrounds, and a multitude of other improvements 
in educational methods. It is safe to say that public 
education within the past two decades has made more 
rapid progress than for any corresponding period in 
the history of American education. In many respects 
within recent years the American school system has 
become the center of educational interest for the world. 

PROGRESS IN SPITE OF SERIOUS OBSTACLES 

The development of public education in this country 
has gone steadily forward in spite of certain serious 
obstacles to educational progress. 

Chief among these obstacles should be mentioned 
the folio win*^ facts: (1) that the South did not re- 
cover from the Civil War until toward the end of the 
19th century; (2) that the enfranchisement of nearly 
four million negro slaves thrust upon the South and 
upon the country a tremendous educational problem; 
(3) that the constant stream of immigrants, particu- 
larly from Eastern and Southern Europe, presented 
educational problems of great magnitude. 

STANDARDS OF CRITICISM RISING 

It should be noted also that many of the defects which 

[16 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

we now recognize in our system of public education are 
defects of which we have become conscious only within 
the last few years. Some of the defects were not clear 
to the American people until the disclosures of the 
selective draft. Other defects have been disclosed only 
within recent years as improved methods of educational 
analysis have been available and as comprehensive sur- 
veys and intensive investigations have brought to light 
conditions which may have been familiar to specialists 
in education, but which were not known to people in 
general. 

It is further to be noted that within the last few years 
the science of education has developed far higher stand- 
ards for education and that it is unfair to indict states 
and communities for failure to reach right away edu- 
cational standards which have been raised markedly 
within a short time. 

Never have the states and communities been so 
alive to the needs of education and so ready to meet 
those needs as at the present time. 

BASIS OF ATTACK ON PRESENT PUBLIC 
EDUCATION SYSTEM 

The leaders in the movement to secure fifty millions 
of Federal money for teachers' salaries and the other 
lesser appropriations of the Sterling-Towner Bill have 
felt that as an essential part of their case and to clear 
the way for the Federal Government to take hold they 
must establish the breakdown of our educational system 
or at least that the people of this country are today 
suddenly confronted with a great educational emergency 
which requires an immediate remedy. 

This general indictment against our present educa- 
tional system was briefly summarized before the Joint 
Senate and House Committee on Education, 1919, by 
Dr. George D. Stray er, President of the National Edu- 
cation Association and Chairman of the National Edu- 
cation Association "Emergency Commission": 

[17] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

"As chairman of the Commission on Emergency 
in Education,* we gathered the facts with respect to 
education in the United States and found . . . that 
the particular emergencies which confront us in the 
United States at this time have to do with the over- 
whelming number of illiterates, the need for the 
Americanization of the foreigners who live among 
us, the training of teachers, the establishment of a 
program of physical education and health service, 
and the equalization of educational opportunity." 
(Record of Joint Hearings before Committees on 
Education and Labor, Sixty-Sixth Congress, First 
Session, July, 1919, p. 49.) 

Charles B. Stillman, President of the American Fed- 
eration of Teachers, said at the same hearing: 

"In conclusion, you will readily agree that the 
threatened breakdown of our educational system 
which this bill is designed to avert would be very 
disastrous to the Nation as a whole, more disastrous 
to the Nation as a whole than to any State or local- 
ity." (Record of Joint Hearings, 191 9, p. 112.) 

These attacks are based largely upon conditions which 
came to light or received new emphasis as the result 
of our war experiences, and the charges are as follows: 

1. The illiteracy of our people. 

2. Failure to Americanize the foreign-born population. 

3. Low physical standard of our population. 

4. Inadequate rural schools. 

5. Shortage of teachers. 

6. Low salaries of teachers. 

7. Poor quality of teachers. 

The attack along these lines has been developed by 
what we think may be described as the "shock" method. 

REVELATIONS OF THE WAR 

Some of these conditions, like the acute shortage 
of teachers, applied to every line of public and private 
activity and were temporary in their nature and are 

* Appointed by the National Education Association. 

[181 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

now fast approaching, if not already back, to normal. 
The war unquestionably also did reveal to us in educa- 
tion as in other directions weaknesses which should be 
attended to and mended as soon as possible. 

We must maintain, however, our perspective as to 
these things, and we want to say at the outset that the 
war also revealed, in a way that inspired the soul of 
every American citizen, the essential vigor and strength 
of the American people and the soundness of American 
institutions. It established that, despite a recent Civil 
War, and despite the many alien and polyglot elements 
of which our population is composed, there was a national 
consciousness, intense, united, and vigorous, certainly 
not surpassed by any other belligerent nation. The 
intelligence, resourcefulness, and skill of our men in the 
field, and of the men and women in the workshops and 
civilian war activities, bore eloquent witness to the gen- 
eral soundness of the educational training of our people. 

Illiteracy 
Congressman Towner states the illiteracy charge as 
follows : 

"The disclosure of the draft, by which it was 
ascertained that out of 2,400,000 young men between 
the ages of 21 and 31, 700,000 of them — almost one- 
third — were not able to read and write, was a re- 
flection upon our educational interests in the United 
States that ought to be blotted out, ought to be 
obliterated, just as soon as it is possible for us to 
accomplish it. The number of illiterates in this 
country is increasing — not decreasing. The con- 
ditions that exist in this country, where so many 
men and women and children — probably between 
twelve and fifteen million of them — that cannot 
read the English language, the language of our Gov- 
ernment, the language of our social intercourse, the 
language of our commercial business interests, is a 
condition that reflects great discredit upon this 
country." (Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 11.) 

[19] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

The illiteracy charge is also made in the resolution of 
the National Education Association as presented at 
the same hearing by Dr. George D. Stray er, at that 
time its President: 

**An alarming percentage of illiteracy in our popu- 
lation shown by the Army tests to be approximately 
20 per cent of the total population." (Record of 
Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 71.) 

But Congressman Towner and the framers of the 
resolution quoted are by no means the only educational 
authorities who have been misled by the Army sta- 
tistics. We find in the report of the U. S. Commissioner 
of Education for 1921 the following statement: 

"The war has made appalling revelations. Some 
of the outstanding things are: The illiteracy of prac- 
tically 25 per cent of the population, the serious lack 
of attention to health, hygiene and physical education, 
the urgent need for Americanizing our heterogeneous 
foreign elements. All these are matters of national 
importance and need subsidies from the Federal 
Government." (U. S. Commissioner of Education, 
, Annual Report, 1921, p. 36.) 

NUMBER OF ILLITERATES IS DECREASING 

The number of illiterates in this country is not in- 
creasing, as stated by Congressman Towner. Not only 
has the percentage of illiteracy decreased, as we have 
already noted, but the actual number of illiterates has 
decreased substantially in every decade. The census 
figures since 1890 are as follows : 





Number of 


Per Cent of 


Year 


Illiterates 


Total Population 


1890 


6,324,702 


13.3 


1900 


6,180,069 


10.7 


1910 


5,516,163 


7.7 


1920 


4,931,905 


6.0 



20 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

The percentage of illiteracy is not 20 per cent, as 
stated in Dr. Strayer's resolution. According to the 
1920 census it is 6 per cent. 

THE ARMY STATISTICS 

There have been so many erroneous conclusions based 
upon the psychological tests given in the Army that it 
has become essential to carefully analyze the datac 
We therefore give the original official statement in the 
Appendix. (Official Report of the Division of Psy- 
chology of the Office of the Surgeon-General, published 
with the approval of the Department of War. Chapter 
9, p. 743 ff. See Appendix A.) 

ANALYSIS OF ARMY ILLITERACY STATISTICS 

It will be seen from this official statement that strictly 
speaking there was no examination for literacy in the 
drafted army. About fifteen hundred thousand men were 
given psychological tests and were divided for that pur- 
pose into two groups : — those who were supposed to be 
able to read and write English readily enough to answer 
questions in a very short time, measured by a stop-watch; 
and those whose knowledge was presumably insufficient 
for that kind of examination. In some camps the men 
were asked if they could read newspapers and write 
letters in English; in other camps they were asked if 
they had finished four, six, or even seven grades in school. 
For three of the camps no basis for the testing of literacy 
was reported. The other camps varied from the third 
grade standard, as in Camp Wadsworth, to seventh 
grade standard, as in Camp Wheeler and in Camp Grant, 
in the latter camp this meaning ability to "read and write 
rapidly." In seven camps the standard was not defined 
in terms of school grades but solely as "read and write," 
meaning sufficient facility in reading newspapers and 
writing letters home in English to satisfy the particular 
examining officer. In a number of cases the standard 
was changed during the period covered by the sta- 

[211 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

tistics, though the number of men examined on each 
of the respective bases is not stated. The tests were so 
far from being uniform that they hardly warrant a 
definite conclusion. 

It is also true that the men submitted to these psy- 
chological tests did not accurately represent our general 
population for four reasons. First, they were all men 
from twenty-one to thirty-one years of age, and the 1920 
census shows that in this age-group there exists even 
among natives an illiteracy rate at least twice as great 
as that of the general average of the total population 
if we go down to children over ten, because of the steady 
improvement in our schools. Second, because so many 
immigrants to this country come at about the age of 
twenty, and moreover a large proportion of them are 
males, so that the proportion of foreign-born men of 
military age is much greater than among the popula- 
tion at large. Third, there were 1,400,000 volunteers. 
Fourth, there were hundreds of thousands of men ex- 
cused from the draft on account of being public officials 
or ministers or students or indispensable employees in 
war industries, and there can be no doubt that the amount 
of illiteracy among these men was much less than that in 
the drafted group. 

The Army tests did bring home to us, however, 
that a distressingly large proportion of our population 
must still be classified as "less literate" — -the term 
used in the Army report — -but that is not the same as 
illiterate and its definition is far from being clear. 

NATIVE WHITE ILLITERATES 

We cannot accurately comprehend the literacy situa- 
tion without further analysis. 

There are really three distinct problems involved — 
the native white population, negro population, and 
foreign-born population. 

The number of native white illiterates has decreased 
steadily and rapidly since 1880: 

[22] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 



Year 


Number 


Per Cent. 


1880 


2,255,460 


8.7 


1890 


2,065,003 


6.2 


1900 


1,913,611 


4.6 


1910 


1,534,272 


3.0 


1920 


1,242,572 


2.0 



It will be seen that whereas in 1880 out of every 
thousand native whites ten years old and over, eighty- 
seven were illiterate, in 1920 only twenty were illit- 
erate. During the past decade the percentage of 
illiteracy decreased in every single state except those 
which had already reached in 1910 what is virtually 
an irreducible minimum — less than one-half of one per 
cent. 

The following states showed in 1920 an illiteracy 
rate for native whites in excess of the average for the 
country: 





1920 


1910 


1900 


1890 


1880 


New Mexico 


11.6 


14.9 


29.4 


42.8 


64.2 


Louisiana 


10.5 


13.4 


17.3 


20.3 


19.8 


North Carolina 


8.2 


12.3 


19.5 


23.1 


31.7 


Tennessee 


7.3 


9.7 


14.2 


18.0 


27.8 


Kentucky 


7.0 


10.0 


12.8 


16.1 


22.8 


South Carolina 


6.5 


10.3 


13.6 


18.1 


22.4 


Alabama 


6.3 


9.9 


14.8 


18.4 


25.0 


Virginia 


5.9 


8.0 


11.1 


14.0 


18.5 


Georgia 


5.4 


7.8 


11.9 


16.5 


23.2 


West Virginia 


4.6 


6.4 


10.0 


12.9 


18.6 


Arkansas 


4.5 


7.0 


11.6 


16.6 


25.5 


Mississippi 


3.6 


5.2 


8.0 


11.9 


16.6 


Texas 


3.0 


4.3 


6.1 


8.3 


13.9 


Florida 


2.9 


5.0 


8.6 


11.3 


20.7 


Oklahoma 


2.3 


3.3 


7.7 


3.4 


— 


Arizona 


2.1 


4.2 


6.2 


7.9 


8.1 



Although the illiteracy rate in several of the South- 
ern and Southwestern States is considerably above 
the average for the country as a whole, rapid prog- 
ress is being made by the educational systems of 

[231 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

these states in reducing illiteracy. Certainly the record 
does not indicate failure of the present state educational 
systems. 

NEGRO ILLITERATES 

Negro illiteracy has also shown a steady decrease since 
1880, as appears by the following Census statistics: 

1880 — 700 out of every thousand negroes of ten 
years of age and over were illiterate. 

1920 — The number had been reduced to 229 out of 
every thousand. 

The figures in numbers and percentages since 1880 
are as follows: 



Year 


Illiterate Negroes 


Per Cent. 


1880 


3,220,878 


70.0 


1890 


3,042,668 


57.1 


1900 


2,853,194 


44.5 


1910 


2,227,731 


30.4 


1920 


1,842,161 


22.9 



The 1920 census shows that the following states 
have a rate of negro illiteracy in excess of the aver- 
age for the country. The percentage of negro illit- 
eracy in these same states for previous decades is also 
shown : 



States 


1920 


1910 


1900 


1890 


1880 


Virginia 


23.5 


30.0 


44.6 


57.2 


73.6 


North Carolina 


24.5 


31.9 


47.6 


60.1 


77.4 


South Carolina 


29.3 


38.7 


52.8 


64.1 


78.5 


Georgia 


29.1 


36.5 


52.4 


67.3 


81.5 


Alabama 


31.3 


40.1 


57.4 


69.1 


80.6 


Mississippi 


29.3 


35.6 


49.1 


60.8 


75.1 


Louisiana 


38.5 


48.4 


61.1 


72.1 


79.0 



Although the percentage of negro illiteracy is still 
much higher than that of the whites, the steady improve- 
ment indicated by the above figures shows good, indeed 
remarkable progress. In considering the figures we 

[241 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

must bear in mind that the ilhteracy problem of the 
negroes has been entirely separate from that of the whites 
because at the close of the Civil War the negro popula- 
tion (approximately 4,000,000) was almost entirely 
illiterate, and it was hardly possible to make much 
progress in the education of the illiterate negro adults. 
The statistics show the result of the gradual dying off 
of the older illiterate negroes and the effect of the educa- 
tional opportunities which have been created for negro 
children during the past few decades. 

EFFECT OF NORTHERN MIGRATION OF NEGROES 

A factor in arousing greater public interest in negro 
education in the Southern States has been the large 
emigration of negroes northward in recent years. It 
is estimated that not less than three-quarters of a million 
negroes went North in the four years 1915-1918. Al- 
though the higher wages resulting from the shortage 
of labor under war conditions in the industrial states 
were the main factor in causing the movement North, 
the desire to take advantage of the better educational 
conditions in the North was also an important influence. 

The present policy of restriction of foreign immi- 
gration is bound to continue to bring the industrial 
districts of the country into competition with the South, 
for negro labor and the necessity for improving educa- 
tional conditions in the Southern States as a means of 
holding the best negro labor is an argument the impor- 
tance of which has already been strongly felt in some 
states. We quote from the report of the State Super- 
intendent of Education of North Carolina: 

"There is another phase of this problem of negro 
education worthy of the serious consideration of our 
people. It is manifest to me that if the negroes be- 
come convinced that they are to be deprived of their 
schools and of the opportunities of an education, 
most of the wisest and most self-respecting negroes 

[25] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

will leave the State, and eventually there will be left 
here only the indolent, worthless and criminal part 
of the negro population. Already there has been 
considerable emigration of negroes from the State. 
. . . Their emigration in large numbers would result 
in a complication of the labor problem. Some of our 
Southern farms would be compelled to lie untenanted 
and untilled. The experience of one district in Wilson 
County some years ago illustrates this. The county 
board of education found it, for various reasons, 
impossible to purchase a site for a negro schoolhouse. 
Before the year was out the board received several 
offers from farmers to donate a site. Upon inquiry 
by the chairman of the board as to the reason of 
these generous offers, he was told that when it was 
learned that no site for the schoolhouse could be 
secured and that the negroes were to have no school 
in that district, at least one-third of the best negro 
tenants and laborers there moved into other dis- 
tricts, where they could have the advantage of a 
school. This is a practical side of this question that 
our people would do well to consider. What hap- 
pened in this district will happen in the entire state 
if we give the best negroes reasonable grounds to 
believe that their public school privileges are to be 
decreased or withdrawn." (U. S. Bureau of Educa- 
tion, Biennial Survey, 1919, p. 432.) 

GROWTH IN SOUTH OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN NEGRO 

EDUCATION 

As indicating also the change in the public attitude 
toward negro education, we quote from the report of the 
Superintendent of Education of South Carolina, for 
the year 1918: 

"For the first time in the history of our public 
school system. State Superintendent's office has 
undertaken definitely the betterment of our negro 
schools. . . . 

"The task is difficult. Houses, terms, salaries, 
equipment, standards — all these are low. Funds 

[26 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

are limited, A foundation must be laid in public 
opinion and in public support before a definite pro- 
gram can be outlined and undertaken. 

"The present welfare and future progress of the 
State are indissolubly linked with the development 
of our entire population. A careful perusal of the 
chapter dealing with negro schools will show specifi- 
cally the work undertaken during the year. The 
co-operation of outside agencies is readily acknowl- 
edged. The attitude of the negro has been apprecia- 
tive, and in my opinion the time has come when the 
general assembly ought to authorize and direct a 
campaign for better health and better industrial 
conditions among the negroes. 

"The foundation for such effort lies in the schools. 
The prejudice that has long hampered the progress 
of the negro youth has been largely modified by the 
events of the past two years. The first step in the 
program for their betterment would be a modest 
appropriation to be expended solely in negro schools." 
(U. S. Bureau of Education, Biennial Survey, 1919, 
p. 433.) 

As an indication, however, of some of the diflSculties 
still pertaining to negro education, we quote from a 
publication of the Louisiana Department of Education: 

"It may be well to point out here that in some 
sections of the State the negro is not receiving for 
the education of his race the direct school taxes that 
he contributes. To fail to grant him this amounts to 
confiscation. ... In dealing with this question we 
must learn to apply the same standards of honesty 
and fairness that we use in dealing with the different 
white schools and white communities. Only through 
the exercise of justice and fair play may we expect 
justice and fair play in return and as a result of this 
good feeling and good citizenship." ("Aims and 
Needs in Negro Public Education in Louisiana," 
issued in 1918, quoted U. S. Bureau of Education,, 
Biennial Survey, 1919, p. 434.) 

[ 27 ] 



Has Our Present System" Broken Down? 

PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH SINCE 
CIVIL WAR 

The progress made by the South in education is well 
described in Graves' "History of Education in Modern 
Times" as follows: 

"With the cessation of the reconstruction influence 
and the subsidence of the dread of mixed schools, 
attendance and appropriations have greatly in- 
creased, girls have come to be given equal oppor- 
tunities with the boys, the education of colored 
children has been adequately supported, and pro- 
vision has been made for training and stimulating 
teachers of both races. Separate state institutions 
for higher education, cultural and vocational, have 
been established to furnish a broad education for 
both whites and negroes. Since 1890 there has been 
no evidence of any widespread hostility to public 
education, and the expenditures and intensive im- 
provement of the schools have been constantly 
progressing. Thus, in the Southern States there has 
been a continual, though somewhat fluctuating, 
growth of a sentiment for common schools from the 
time of its initiation by the broad-visioned Jefferson 
to the universal sentiment of today. It evolved 
through long years of varied success and failure, 
broke its chrysalis after the wreck of the Civil War, 
and gradually attained to its present proportions. 
Its achievements during the past two decades seem 
almost unparalleled in history." (Graves' "History 
of Education in Modern Times," p. 271.) 

STERLING-TOWNER BILL DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY AP- 
PROPRIATE ONE DOLLAR FOR NEGRO SCHOOLS 

The Sterling-Towner Bill appears to take no cogni- 
zance of the problem of negro education as such. The 
bill does not specifically appropriate one dollar for 
negro schools out of this one hundred million dollar 
appropriation. It is entirely impossible to estimate 
what sum of money or what proportion of the total 

[281 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

donated to a state where the percentage of negro 
ilHteracy is high would be devoted to removing negro 
illiteracy. 

Foreign-Born Illiterates — Americanization 

The second charge in the indictment of our educational 
system, — that it has failed to Americanize the foreign 
population, — in the resolution of the National Educa- 
tion Association, to which we have referred, is stated 
as follows: 

"An increasingly large un-Americanized element, 

both native and foreign born, in our population 

evidenced by statistical research to be one in three," 

(Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 71.) 

It is stated more conservatively by Congressman 
Towner in a recent speech : 

" Consider the condition of our immigrant popula- 
tion. We now have 15,000,000 foreign born people 
in the United States. More than 5,000,000 cannot 
speak, read or write English. More than 2,000,000 
cannot read or write any language. Unfortunately 
these foreigners often group themselves into alien 
settlements or colonies where our language is not 
spoken, where our journals are not read, and where 
the whole environment is un-American." (Uni- 
versity of Illinois Bulletin, December 26, 1921, p. 83.) 

In another part of the same speech he said : 

"Take illiteracy as an example and consider con- 
ditions. The census of 1910 showed that in the 
United States there were 5,500,000 over ten years of 
age who could not read or write any language. In 
addition there were 3,500,000 who could not speak 
or read or write English. This placed us below the 
standard of most of the civilized nations of the 
world." 

According to the 1920 census the foreign-born popu- 
lation of the United States of ten years of age and over 

[29] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

was 13,497,866, of whom 1,763,740 or 13.1 per cent were 
illiterate. Literacy as defined by the census, however, is 
not necessarily literacy in the English language. It 
means ability to read and write in any language. 

The statistics of the number of the foreign-born popu- 
lation unable to speak English have recently been issued 
by the census for 1920. This shows that of the 13,497,866 
foreign-born ten years of age and over, 1,488,948 or 11 
per cent were reported as unable to speak English. Both 
the number and percentage are only about half as large 
as in 1910, when 2,953,011 foreign-born white persons ten 
years of age and over representing 22.8 per cent of the 
total, were returned as unable to speak English. We 
find, therefore, that instead of three and one-half million 
of our foreign-born population unable to speak English, 
as stated by Congressman Towner, the 1920 census shows 
the number to be less than 1,500,000. 

INCREASE IN NUMBER OF FOREIGN-BORN ILLITERATES 
DUE TO UNRESTRICTED IMMIGRATION POLICY 

In 1880 there were 120 out of every thousand foreign- 
born white, ten years of age and older, who were illiter- 
ate; in 1920 out of every thousand 131 were illiterate, 
that is, unable to read or write in any language. 

The number of illiterate foreign-born and the ratio for 
the decades since 1880 are shown in the following table: 







Per Cent, of 


Year 


Foreign-Born Illiterates 


All Foreign Born 


1880 


763,620 


12.0 


1890 


1,147,571 


13.1 


1900 


1,287,135 


12.9 


1910 


1,650,361 


12.7 


1920 


1,763,740 


13.1 



The increase in the number of foreign-born illiterates 
cannot be considered as an indictment of our public 
school system. It was the result of our policy of admit- 
ting immigrants without prescribing any test for literacy. 

[301 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

From 1896 to 1921 there were 3,450,000 immigrants 
(mostly adults) admitted into the United States who 
could not read or write in any language. (See Ap- 
pendix B.) 

It is therefore not surprising to find that in 1920 there 
had been a slight increase in the number of foreign-born 
illiterates as compared with 1910. 

NEW LITERACY TEST CUTS OFF FURTHER ILLITERATE 
IMMIGRANTS ALTOGETHER 

Congress in 1917 went to the very heart of the prob- 
lem of foreign-born illiteracy by providing that thereafter 
no more illiterate immigrants should be allowed to enter 
this country. This is one of the causes now in operation 
which beyond peradventure of a doubt will cause the next 
census to show a drop in illiteracy beyond anything 
heretofore accomplished in the United States. 

IMMIGRATION FROM SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE 
RESTRICTED BY QUOTA LAW 

The enormous increase in the volume of immigration 
from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe in 
the past 25 years has also been a big factor in the increase 
in the number of foreign-born illiterates. Until 1890 
the greater proportion of our immigrants came from 
Northwestern Europe. A large proportion of them were 
English-speaking people and those who came from the 
Continent came from countries with institutions gener- 
ally similar to our own. During the decade from 1890 to 
1900 there was a marked increase in the immigration 
from Southern and Eastern Europe w^here educational 
standards are low and the percentage of illiteracy is 
high. This movement continued to grow and continued 
in great volume until the outbreak of the European 
War; This immigration came from the following coun- 
tries: Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Portu- 
gal, Rumania, Russia, Spain, and Turkey. During the 

[31] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

period 1880 to 1921, 12,877,855 people entered this 
country from Southern and Eastern Europe and Western 
Asia. 

Congress itself has recently attacked this problem in 
the most radical way by legislation which took effect in 
1921 and which reduces largely the quota of immigrants 
which can yearly enter this country from the Mediter- 
ranean countries and Eastern Europe. Under the new 
law the annual quota for the fiscal year 1922 for 
these countries is 157,489 (see Appendix D), whereas 
during the decade from 1900 to 1910 the annual aver- 
age immigration from these countries was 588,860, and 
during the decade from 1910 to 1919, in spite of the prac- 
tical cutting off of immigration during the war years, 
the annual average was 402,696. 

MOVEMENT BACK TO SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE 

Another favorable factor is the considerable number of 
immigrants from the Southern and Eastern European 
countries who after living here a number of years return 
home. In 1920 the emigrants returning to countries of 
Southern and Eastern Europe numbered 224,152 as 
against 151,712 new immigrants admitted — a loss 
of 72,440. In 1921 the emigrants to those countries 
numbered 188,132 as against 357,350 immigrants ad- 
mitted. It is true that the figures for these two years 
show a net gain of 96,778 immigrants admitted, but 
this was due to the abnormal Italian immigration in 
1921, amounting to 222,260, caused by eagerness to get 
into the country before the new law limiting the number 
of immigrants became effective. Moreover many of 
those returning home were illiterate, while the newcomers 
must have been able, since the new law of 1917, at least 
to read and write in their own language. During the 
current year immigration from the countries of Southern 
and Eastern Europe has just about been balanced by the 
emigrants returning home to these countries. The 

[321 



Has Our Prese?it System Broken Down? 

figures for the year July 1, 1921 to June 30, 1922 are: 
immigrants 136,543, emigrants 142,115, a net loss of 
5572. (See Appendix E.) 

CONCLUSION 

Beyond question the war disclosed great need for 
provisions which may safeguard American institutions 
against the dangers of an unassimilated foreign popula- 
tion. But it also disclosed their essential stability and 
the fact that old-world traditions and old-world associ- 
ations could not seriously interfere with adherence to 
American ideals and American institutions. Although 
the work of Americanization is one of our important 
social problems it is time for us to recover from war 
hysteria and to view the problem in its proper perspec- 
tive. Here several facts should be remembered : 

1. We must recognize that "Americanization" is 
most effectively developed through participation in 
daily American life. It is not a process which can be 
imposed to a great extent upon the immigrant. 

2. We must realize that the place to control the 
evil possibilities of large numbers of foreign born is 
at its source, i. e., in our immigration laws. / 

3. This has already been provided for by the laVs 
excluding illiterate immigrants and limiting the 
amount of immigration. Hence the problem of 
"Americanization" of the foreign born must become 
one of constantly decreasing importance. 

4. The most effective agency for Americanization 
is the public school system. The most important 
problem of Americanization is not that which in- 
volves the adult immigrant but his children. A 
dollar spent on the second generation is worth many 
times a dollar spent on the adult immigrant and 
accomplishes things with children which cannot 
possibly be done for adults. 

5. States having appreciable proportions of foreign 
born population are keenly alive to the problems of 
Americanization and for their own sakes have been 

[33] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

attacking them with vigor, their attempts being sup- 
plemented by numerous civic agencies. Further, the 
states in which the problem is most acute are our 
richest states which neither need nor ask for Federal 
aid and Federal control. 

Physical Standard of Population 

The attack on the present educational system based 
upon the alleged physical unfitness of our people as shown 
by the war, in the resolution of the National Education 
Association previously quoted, is stated as follows: 

"an astonishing degree of physical unfitness in our 
people betraying a lack of preparedness either for 
the duties of defense or the responsibilities of peace — 
amounting to at least one-third of the entire adult 
population." (Record of Joint Hearings, July, 1919, 
p. 71.) 

Congressman Towner states it as follows: 

"Perhaps no disclosure of the draft examinations 
carries more reproach to our intelligence than the 
fact that out of about 2,400,000 young men examined 
for service 700,000 or nearly one-third were found 
disqualified because of physical disability. Ninety 
per cent of these disabilities could have been pre- 
vented by a knowledge of the simplest rules of 
hygiene and health. It was ignorance, gross 
ignorance, that in the vast majority of cases was 
the cause of their incompetence." (University of 
Illinois Bulletin, December 26, 1921, p. 84.) 

The resolution quoted seems to depict a race that is 
physically decadent. Here again conclusions have been 
based upon misinterpreted army statistics. Nowhere 
in the indictment against the present educational system 
by the proponents of federalization is the lack of anal- 
ysis or sober thought more evident than in the dis- 
cussion of this question. 

[34] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

EXAMINATION OF ARMY FIGURES 

The second report of the Provost Marshal General 
showed that of the 3,200,000 men examined after De- 
cember 15, 1917, 16.25 per cent were totally disqualified 
for military service. This is quite different from Con- 
gressman Towner's figure of one-third disqualified. But 
this figure is not a fair index of the condition of our total 
male population of military age, for it leaves out of 
consideration over 500,000 men drafted before December 
15, 1917, and about 1,400,000 volunteers in the army, 
navy, or marine corps, who were 100 per cent physically 
qualified. All of the men between 21 and 31 who were 
rejected by the recruiting officers, or by the draft boards 
before December 15, 1917, were reexamined and are in- 
cluded in the 16.25 per cent mentioned above. Most of 
the volunteers were under 31. Making proper allowance 
for the volunteers, it would seem that the correct figure 
for the proportion of men 21 to 31 years of age who are 
unfit for military service is under 12 per cent, and if we 
choose to add them understandingiy, plus about 8 per 
cent of men in good general health but not qualified for 
the forced marches and terrific strain of front line battle 
conditions. These latter men were classed as qualified 
for limited service. Without a doubt these figures would 
have been considerably reduced if the war had lasted 
longer, for standards of fitness are not absolute, but de- 
pend on the need for men. With 24,000,000 men of 
military age to draw from we naturally set our standards 
Jiigh. It was sound policy to reject men who would 
doubtless have been accepted by the other belligerent 
nations. We were looking for men of the physical 
quality which the Germans assembled in their shock 
battalions. Moreover, many of the defects which dis- 
qualify for military service in no way disqualify for 
ordinary civilian pursuits. 

As for the number of disqualifications that might have 
been remedied or prevented by education, no one can 

[351 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

tell how great this was. Many of the commoner causes 
of disqualification were not of the sort that are generally 
considered preventable to any great extent. Flat feet, 
hernia, heart disease, defective vision, undersize, in- 
sanity, feeble-mindedness, malformation of the limbs, 
varicose veins, wounds, congenital deformities — to 
mention a few of the common defects — who will say 
that ninety per cent of these are preventable by edu- 
cation? 

PUBLIC HEALTH WORK A RECENT DEVELOPMENT 

In considering the development of health work in 
our public school system, in order to get a fair picture 
of the situation we should remember that the whole 
conception of preventive medicine is quite new even 
in the medical profession. Louis Pasteur, considered 
the founder of modern preventive medicine, died in 
1895. Harvard University Medical School, for example, 
did not establish a chair for preventive medicine until 
1909. If we go back to the Civil War we find that the 
improvement in the condition of the health of our pop- 
ulation during the past fifty years has been most notable. 
The first Health Commissioner of New York City is 
still alive and has recently given a picture of the status 
of public health administration at the close of the 
Civil War: 

**New York had no effective sanitary administra- 
tion. There w^ere numerous departments filled with 
active politicians, but not one had any expert super- 
vision. There was a Board of Health when the alder- 
men were summoned to meet as such. The value of 
the Board was stated by Mayor Fernando Wood, 
an expert in city politics, to a medical delegation 
that requested the Mayor to call the aldermen as a 
board of health to take measures against an approach- 
ing cholera epidemic. The Mayor replied, 'I will 
not call the Board, for I consider it more dangerous 
to the city than cholera.' There was the Health 

[36] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

Commission, with practically no well-defined duties. 
The 'city physician' attended the neglected cases of 
sickness among the poor, a negligible number. The 
most conspicuous figure in the list of sanitary 
ofiicials was the head of the Street-Cleaning Depart- 
ment, who had an annual appropriation of nearly 
$1,000,000 to expend upon his political followers. 
The sanitary inspection of the city was one of his 
duties, and for this work he appointed scores of 
'Health Wardens,' who were generally saloon keepers. 
The qualification of these sanitary officials for their 
duties was tested by a legislative committee. One 
was asked to define the word ' hygiene ' and he replied 
*the vapor which rises from stagnant water.' An- 
other was asked, 'What do you do when you are 
called to a case of contagious disease?' He replied, 
* I go to the house and call the people to the street, 
where I give my orders, which are to burn sulphur; 
I never go into the house.'" (Stephen Smith," The 
History of Public Health, 1871-1921," in Ravenel, 
"A Half Century of Public Health," p. 7.) 

In 1872, there were only three state boards of health, 
Massachusetts (1869) and California and Virginia (1871). 
In 1876, there were only twelve boards of health in the 
whole United States. Today, in every state there is 
a state board of health. 

The wonderful achievements of public health admin- 
istration have recently been summarized as follows: 

"The death rate in New York City in 1869 was 28. 
In 1919 it was 12.93. This means the saving of 
» 28,000 lives a year. There are no national statistics 
extending back fifty years, but in the last twenty 
years there has been a fall in the death rate of the 
rapidly expanding registration area of 4.7 per 100,000 
living. This is equivalent to the saving of nearly 
400,000 lives a year. Typhoid fever is a vanishing 
disease. The diarrheal diseases caused four times 
as many deaths fifty years ago as now. Scarlet fever 
mortality has fallen ninety per cent. Diphtheria 

[37] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

has decreased nearly as much, and the mortahty 
from pulmonary tuberculosis has been cut in two. 
Infant mortality in our better cities has dropped 
fifty per cent." (Ravenel, "A Half Century of 
Public Health," p. 159.) 

RAPID GROWTH OF HEALTH WORK IN THE 
SCHOOLS 

The responsibility for the health of the whole nation 
never can, except to a minor extent, be loaded on to our 
public education system. There are 150,000 doctors 
in this country and there will continue to be a medical 
profession as well as the profession of teaching and these 
doctors are more and more emphasizing the importance 
of general hygiene and preventive measures. In recent 
years, however, there has been a great development of 
health work in the schools. 

Medical inspection of schools began in the United 
States in Boston in 1894 as a result of an outbreak of 
contagious disease in the preceding years. In the first 
decade of school inspection it made slow progress, but 
since then it has been extremely rapid. In 1910 it had 
been introduced into 400 cities. The idea has rapidly 
gained ground that it is the duty of the school authorities 
to assist in protecting the health of the school children. 
The injurious effect on the growing child of unbalanced 
food, bad teeth, bad tonsils, adenoids, the hookworm, 
and other physical dangers or ailments has only within 
a comparatively few years come to be widely stressed 
by the medical profession, and the medical profession 
out of the schools as well as in the schools is now hard 
at work contributing to the health and vigor of the 
growing generation by removing or minimizing these 
and numerous other unfavorable factors. 

The first school nurses were employed in this country 
in 1902 in New York City. This work has been widely 
developed throughout the cities of the country. 

The Playground Movement is directly concerned 

[381 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

with the healthy development of childhood. It has 
received widespread popular support and millions of 
dollars of public money have been and are still being 
expended in promoting this idea. 

IN 1918 THIRTY. NINE STATES HAD PASSED LAWS RELATING 
TO HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION 

Since the war the importance of physical education 
as a part of the public educational system has had a 
rapid development throughout the nation, and in 1918, 
thirty-nine states had legislation on health or physical 
education, and several states have passed legislation since 
that time. Today there are hundreds of public, semi- 
public, private, and philanthropic agencies of national, 
state, and local scope working for the improvement of 
the health of the people, with an annual expenditure of 
many millions of dollars. 

Not only are the states almost universally putting 
into effect physical education programs in the public 
schools, but the movement is also being fostered by the 
development of organized athletics and outdoor sports 
of all kinds, by the rapid growth of the Boy Scouts, 
the Girl Scouts, and many other kindred organizations. 

Inadequacy of Rural Schools 
The advocates of Federal participation call attention 
to the inadequacy of the rural schools of the country as 
evidence of the failure of the present education system. 
Dr. WiUiam C. Bagley, Member of the "Emergency 
Committee" of the National Education Association 
said to the Committee of Congress in 1919: 

"In the first place, the system of rural education 
is notoriously inadequate. The proportion of illit- 
eracy in our rural districts is twice as high as in our 
urban districts. Consequently the problem of il- 
literacy is largely a problem of rural education. We 
have another significant fact, namely, that the na- 
tive-born children of the native-born population 

[39] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

are proportionately three times as illiterate as the 
native-born children of the foreign-born population. 
In other words, we have done three times as well for 
the children of the immigrants as we have for our 
own children. The reason for this is that the immi- 
grants tend to congregate in the large cities where 
educational facilities are provided, where compul- 
sory education laws are generally enforced, and 
where schools are generally attractive. The children 
will go to school, they are well taught, and their 
tendency to regular attendance is very much greater 
than in the country. We have another fact that 
was brought to our attention strongly because of 
the findings of the Army tests, namely, that approxi- 
mately one-half of the young men drawn into the 
Army camps had had only six years of schooling or 
less, and if we think of the draft as forming a 'cross 
section' of our population, this means that one-half 
of all of our citizens are limited to six years ' school- 
ing or less. This gives us a conception of the inade- 
quacies of the public school system that we could not 
get in any other way. I believe that the only way 
to correct this condition is through some such form 
of national stimulation as is proposed in this bill." 
(Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 146.) 

It is stated that half the children of the country are 
in rural schools, that the average school term of the 
rural school is about two months less than that of the 
urban schools, that about 80 per cent of the rural schools 
are one-teacher schools, that rural school teachers seldom 
teach more than one year in the same school, many of 
them are without even high school training, and that 
as a result of the inefficient rural school, illiteracy is 
twice as great in rural as in urban territory. It is also 
stated that the schools are generally poorly equipped, 
often unsanitary, and there is usually a lack of ade- 
quate supervision. It is also pointed out that the 
average salary of rural teachers is less than that of the 
urban teachers. 

[401 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

DISTRICT school's PLACE IN HISTORY 

However, despite its limited equipment and shorter 
terms and the other disadvantages under which the 
rural or district school has always been conducted as 
compared with the city school, the district school has 
played a notable part in our national history. 

"A reliable authority estimates that % of the 
ministers, % of the college professors of the entire 
country, % of the men in authority in city churches, 
and about the same proportion of the influential 
men of affairs in the city — merchants, manufac- 
turers, bankers, lawyers — were born and reared 
in rural regions. Twenty-six of the Presidents of 
the United States were country boys." (Emer- 
gency Commission of National Education Asso- 
ciation, Bulletin 4, p. 3.) 

It is possible that the professional educator's eyes 
are so intently fixed on the technique of the profession 
that he does not always take into account some of the 
educational advantages of country life which no ex- 
penditure of money can ever bring to the boy in New 
York City, Chicago, and other cities of the country. 

IMPROVEMENT IN RURAL SCHOOLS IS NOW 
WELL UNDER WAY 

It is true that in the rapid educational progress of the 
past generation the rural schools have failed to keep 
pace with the advance in our cities, but there is much 
evidence that most of the states are making great efforts 
to improve the condition of their rural schools. They 
are better today in many states than they have ever 
been in the past. Many states are now engaged in 
establishing "consolidated" rural schools by combining 
several of the district schools and furnishing transporta- 
tion to the pupils. 

Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford, State Superintendent of 
Schools of Colorado, and former president of the Na- 

[411 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

tional Education Association, described these con- 
solidated rural schools before the Joint Senate and 
House Committee: 

"One gentleman wants to know something about 
the consolidated school. Consolidation means that 
two or three or more districts vote to come together 
and form one district, with a large school instead 
of a number of small schools. By the larger means of 
taxation there is more money to do that with. It 
is possible to take the child by transportation to the 
school. In my own state it is necessary for the 
majority — we will say that five districts are going 
to be consolidated — and it must be a majority vote 
of each one of the districts before they can be con- 
solidated. Then you put together all the resources 
of these five districts and you establish a central 
school, to which the children are taken by transporta- 
tion. We have one in the San Louis Valley, which 
has 16 teachers, pays its superintendent $3,000, 
and the minimum salary paid teachers there is $1,500 
a year, in that particular school. There is a commu- 
nity church and a community farm, and there are 
homes for the superintendent and his family, and 
there are places of meeting for all. 

"The Chairman: How extensive is the curric- 
ulum in that school .^^ 

"Mrs. Bradford: It is just as good as it is 
in the Denver Schools, and it is modified in such 
a way that it meets the requirements of the coun- 
try life and develops the children for functioning 
in country life." (Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, 
p. 46.) 

This consolidated school movement is spreading all 
over the country. It is going especially strong in the 
Middle West. Comment is made on this progress in 
the Report of the United States Commissioner of Edu- 
cation for 1920, as follows: 

[42] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

"The past year has seen marked progress in the 
matter of consoHdation. Probably the greatest 
advancement has been made in the State of Iowa, 
which has averaged one consoHdation effected for 
each day of the school year. The consolidated schools 
in the United States now number about 12,000. 
The greatest development has been in the Middle 
West. Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, 
and Colorado are some of the leading states in this 
movement." (U. S. Commissioner of Education, 
Annual Report, 1920, p. 42.) 

Congressman Towner himself has testified to the 
excellent educational facilities provided by these rural 
consolidated schools. At the hearing before the Com- 
mittee of Congress in 1919 he said: 

"Mr. Towner: I would like to know whether or 
not. Dr. Joyner, you would sanction this observa- 
tion I have made by a visit to some of the consoli- 
dated schools. I have wondered at the wonderful 
efficiency — " 

"Dr. Joyner: (Interrupting) Sir? 

"Mr. Towner: (Continuing) And the splendid 
opportunities that those schools afforded. I would 
rather have my children educated in one of those 
modern consolidated country schools than to have 
them go to any city school in the country." (Record 
of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 44.) 

STATE HELP FOR RURAL SCHOOLS 

The obstacle to the growth of this movement caused 
by the poverty of some of the counties and other local 
government units, which is pointed out by the critics 
as perhaps the root of the evil, has already been rem- 
edied in most states by State Equalization Funds. 
To be sure, some difficulties are being met in the proper 
working out of some of these state funds but they are 
gradually being solved and the march is steadily forward. 

[43 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

BETTER ANALYSIS OF RURAL SCHOOL SITUATION 
IS NEEDED 

In the treatment of this subject, as in fact of most of 
the shortcomings which are pointed out by the pro- 
ponents of Federal participation, we are handicapped 
in getting a true picture of the significance of the facts 
because the statements are so general and the problems 
are not sufficiently analyzed. For example, the con- 
ditions of the white and negro schools are not presented 
separately. As these schools are separate, and negro 
education is an entirely distinct educational problem, 
it is essential that conditions be shown separately for 
white and negro schools. 

Shortage of Teachers 

It is further stated by those who attack our present 
educational system that there is a great shortage of 
teachers and that thousands of schools are closed be- 
cause of lack of teachers. 

Congressman Towner, before the Joint Committee 
of Congress, said: 

"A condition has come about also with regard 
to our common schools in the country which calls 
for most immediate and imperative action that they 
be remedied. Thousands of schools in the United 
States have had to be closed, or their terms very ma- 
terially curtailed, because of the want of any kind of 
teachers." (Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 11.) 

This statement was apparently based on war con- 
ditions. During the war there was not only a shortage 
of teachers but there was a shortage of almost every- 
thing that we had been accustomed to consider essential 
under peace conditions. There was a shortage of coal, 
there was a shortage of wheat, there was a shortage of 
nurses and doctors as well as teachers. Experience of 
the past three years has seen the wartime shortage in 
most instances transformed into a surplus. 

[44] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

RAPID GROWTH OF SCHOOLS OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY 
OF TEACHERS 

With the rapid extension of the pubhc school, the 
growth of the high school, the growth of our universi- 
ties, the demand for teachers has increased every 
year by leaps and bounds. This has been perhaps an 
inevitable consequence of the rapid development of 
our state educational systems. In some measure a 
shortage of teachers may perhaps be considered as a 
healthy sign of educational progress. The shortage, as 
we have noted, was greatly accentuated during the 
war; many of the men teachers went into the service and 
into various branches of war work, many of the women 
teachers replaced the men or went into one or another 
of the various war activities of the government. The 
usual supply of new teachers from the normal schools 
and colleges was restricted for the same reasons. 

SITUATION BECOMING NORMAL 

There has been a marked improvement in respect to 
the shortage of teachers with the return of more normal 
conditions. We quote from the Annual Report of the 
United States Commissioner of Education speaking of 
the conditions prevalent in 1920: 

"Although there is a teacher shortage without 
question the tide drift is setting back toward the 
teaching profession. For some time to come some 
localities may have difficulty in securing as many 
teachers as they desire of the type they prefer, but 
already the more favored localities are reporting a 
surplus. Furthermore, it is to be noted that in all 
periods of rapid expansion, when new activities are 
springing up, calling without much discrimination 
for help of all kinds and in a position to pay salaries 
considerably above those which the more stabilized 
professions and occupations pay, it is natural that 
the latter should suffer. On the other hand, when 
expansion ceases and contraction sets in, and when 

[45 1 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

new activities shut down, it will always be found 
that the stabilized occupations and professions will 
be swamped with persons seeking employment. So, 
although the schools have suffered in this respect 
during the past five-year period, nevertheless to the 
mind which recognized that the period of abnormal 
expansion would be followed by a period of con- 
traction, the situation had nothing in it to cause 
alarm." (U. S. Commissioner of Education, Annual 
Report, 1920, p. 24.) 

Teachers^ Salaries 
It is stated also that the state educational system has 
failed because the teachers are underpaid and that this 
is largely responsible for the shortage of teachers already 
referred to. 

Mr. Lampson, Vice President of the American Feder- 
ation of Teachers, described the situation to Congress 
as follows: 

"The way to improve the schools of America at 
this critical juncture in our history is to raise 
teachers' salaries. 

"The average annual salary of the teachers of 
this country, inclusive of superintendents and other 
supervisory authorities, is said to be about $630, 
or, measured in the terms of the former purchasing 
power of the dollar, about $350. The low salaries, 
the high cost of living, the strain and stress of the 
times have wrought havoc with the teaching per- 
sonnel of the public schools within the States. The 
teachers must be relieved from economic oppression 
for the sake of the children whom they teach and the 
people whom they serve. 

"Mr. Chairman, of what avail is the appropria- 
tion of $7,500,000 for the removal of illiteracy without 
well-paid and efiicient teachers to do the work.^^ Of 
what avail is the appropriation of $7,500,000 for 
Americanization without well-paid and efficient 
teachers.'* Of what avail is the appropriation of 
$20,000,000 for physical education without well-paid 

[46] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

and efficient teachers? Of what avail is the appro- 
priation of $50,000,000 for equalizing the educa- 
tional opportunities without well-paid and efficient 
teachers? There is a close connection between pay 
and the efficiency of teachers. The bill before your 
committee is fundamentally sound. It not only 
provides for the preparation of teachers, but also for 
Federal aid in the partial payment of teachers' sal- 
aries. The country can not afford to penalize its 
teachers. The latter must be paid in money and 
public respect, those returns to which the value of 
their services entitle them." (Record of Joint 
Hearings, 1919, p. 115.) 

We all recognize that in many parts of the country 
teachers have been underpaid. According to the Bureau 
of Education the average salary of teachers in the pub- 
lic schools of the country in 1918 was $635. (See Ap- 
pendix E.) 

LOW SALARIES OF NEGRO TEACHERS KEEP DOWN 
AVERAGES OF SOUTHERN STATES 

Here again we find difficulty in getting a true picture 
because of insufficient analysis. The ten states paying 
the lowest salaries are all states with large negro popu- 
lation. In some of the Southern States the negro schools 
are operated only for a few months in the year and the 
compensation of the teachers is very small. The annual 
report of the Department of Education in Alabama in 
1918 stated that the average length of term of negro 
schools in that state in that year was 104 days. The 
average salary of the man teacher in the negro schools 
was $167, the woman teacher $152. A bulletin of the 
National Education Association refers to a similar case : 
"In another state the average monthly salary 
paid colored female teachers in the elementary 
schools during 1918 was only $26.12, or a total of 
$156.72 for a year of six months. This represents 
an average wage for these teachers, many of whom are 

[47] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

graduates of colored normal schools, of less than one- 
half what they could earn without training doing 
washing or general housework in many of the large 
cities." 

The white schools of the South also pay relatively low 
salaries as they run for shorter terms but the average is 
pulled down by the low salaries of negro teachers. 

GREAT IMPROVEMENT IN SALARIES SINCE 1916 

The increase in the cost of living during the war 
brought distress to all employees who were working on 
a salary basis and the teaching profession suffered 
severely. As a result of the presentation of the situation, 
by the teachers and their organizations, to the local and 
state authorities, the pay of a very large proportion of 
the teachers has been substantially increased and with 
the decline in the cost of living during the past year 
throughout the country, which has amounted to more 
than 25 per cent, although the salaries of the teachers in 
many places are still low, conditions are today much 
better than they were in 1918 when the situation was 
presented to Congress by the National Education Asso- 
ciation. The situation in 1920 was thus reviewed by 
the United States Commissioner of Education: 

"During the five-year period now closing a range 
of salary advance from a third to a half of that paid 
at the beginning of the period will include the great 
bulk of the cities of the United States. This advance 
by no means makes up to the teachers the loss they 
have suffered through the decline in the purchasing 
power of their salaries. Burgess' study, indeed, 
shows that the teacher's salary now, despite the 
advances that have been made, is actually less in 
purchasing value than at any other time since the 
Civil War. Nevertheless, serious efforts have been 
made to lessen the discrepancy. The conscience of 

[48] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

the people, as never before, has been touched respect- 
ing the work and economic status of the teacher. 
Without doubt when a dechne in hving costs sets in, 
as it now bids fair to do, and conditions become more 
nearly normal, the teachers of the country will find 
that they have made a distinct gain, and that their 
status financially as well as in other important re- 
spects will have been greatly bettered." (U. S. 
Commissioner of Education, Annual Report, 1920, 
p. 23.) 

Poor Quality of Teachers 

The next charge in the indictment is that our teachers 
are inadequately prepared for the work, stated by the 
Emergency Commission of the National Education 
Association as follows: 

"At the present time, more than one-half of the 
public school teachers of the United States are im- 
mature; they are short lived in the work of teaching; 
their general education is inadequate; their profes- 
sional equipment is deplorably meagre." (Emer- 
gency Commission of National Education Associa- 
tion, Bulletin 3, p. 4.) 

Mr. Charles B. Stillman, President American Feder- 
ation of Teachers, said before the Congressional Com- 
mittee: 

"If the present is alarming, let us look at the 
future. The normal schools have been running with 
less than half the customary enrollment." (Record 
of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 111.) 

It is also stated that no fewer than 5,000,000 children 
have teachers who have not passed the age of 21; that 
these teachers have had as preparation for their work 
only one, two, three or four years' education beyond the 
eighth grade of the elementary school. 

Dr. William C. Bagley thus described the situation in 
more detail as follows : 

I 49 ] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

" I have called your attention to the more immature 
and untrained half of our teaching population. We 
should not infer that the better half represents the 
high level of training and efficiency that the schools 
of a great democracy demand. As a matter of fact 
the proportion of well-trained, mature, and relatively 
permanent teachers in the public-school service is 
shamefully small. The rewards of teaching are so 
meager, the recognitions are so few, the conditions 
of work are so arduous, that only a small number of 
men and women prepare themselves adequately for 
the service and remain in it as a life career. The 
annual 'turnover' amounts to at least one-fifth of 
the entire teaching population; that is, it is necessary 
to secure each year more than 100,000 new teachers. 
Our normal schools, with their inadequate facilities, 
can furnish only a small fraction of these recruits, 
and those that are furnished by these institutions 
have usually had a hurried and consequently inade- 
quate preparation for their work. 

"Our normal schools in general are the most 
penuriously supported of all of our professional 
schools. Their instructors are notoriously under- 
paid and notoriously over-burdened with difficult and 
exacting duties. You would all agree, I am sure, that 
there is no more responsible service than that of 
preparing teachers for the public schools. The nor- 
mal schools should be able to secure and keep the 
best instructors. Of all education institutions they 
should be in a position to pay the highest salaries 
and their service should confer the highest distinc- 
tion. In no State of our Union is normal-school 
work so rewarded or regarded." (Record of Joint 
Hearings, 1919, p. 148.) 

GROWTH OF NORMAL SCHOOLS SINCE 1900 

The growth of normal schools, although at a rate 
below that of high schools and colleges, has been note- 
worthyo 

[50] 



Students 




in Normal Courses 


Graduating 


1900 69,551 


11,359 


1918 110,053 


24,501 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

Expenditure 
State, City, 
and County 

$3,500,000 
15,751,693 

In eighteen years the number of students graduated 
from normal schools has more than doubled and the 
appropriations for their support increased more than 
fourfold. In 1919 there were 308 normal schools — 172 
state, 34 city, 45 county, and 57 private normal schools. 

OTHER FACILITIES FOR TRAINING TEACHERS 

With the specialized developments of the high schools 
in recent years there has been added in many states a 
teacher-training course to give training to students 
intending to teach in rural schools. In 1919 there were 
21 states, with 1,493 of these normal departments or 
classes, with an attendance of 27,000. 

There has also been growing quite rapidly in some 
states a new type of institution of higher education known 
as the junior college (85 of them m 1918). These junior 
colleges are beginning also to provide training for 
teachers. 

Schools or Departments of Education are to be found 
not only at most of the state universities but also in 
many of the older endowed universities. As long ago 
as 1914, the last year for which we have been able to 
obtain statistics, the enrollment in departments of 
education conducted by colleges and universities was 
36,327. 

There has also been an enormous development of 
summer schools for teachers during the past decade. 
In 1921 there were 410 summer schools conducted by 
colleges, universities, and normal schools with enrollment 
of 253,111 students. (Journal of National Education Asso- 
ciation, January, 1922, p. 12.) Throughout the length 
and breadth of the land there is great activity and many 
institutions are working to improve the professional edu- 

[51] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down ? 

cation of teachers. In no other form of professional 
education has there been such an increase in facihties 
during recent years. 

CAUSES OF RAPID TURNOVER OF ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL TEACHERS 

The rapid turnover among elementary school teachers 
presents a difficult problem. This turnover is stated by 
the proponents of the new legislation to be largely due 
to lack of proper appreciation of the dignity of the pro- 
fession on the part of the American public and to the 
low salaries. The low salary certainly has contributed, 
but the main reason why there is now and always will 
be a rapid turnover among the elementary school 
teachers is that most women marry and married life 
cuts short their professional careers. 

CONCLUSION 

The various subjects that we have just reviewed give 
the basis of the argument made by the advocates of 
the Sterling-Towner Bill that Federal aid is urgently 
needed to protect the nation against the ''threatened 
breakdown of our present educational system." 

We find that the picture of the shortcomings of our 
educational system is in many respects exaggerated, 
in other cases inadequately analyzed. We find great 
interest and great activity on the part of the states. 
The important question in considering the criticisms 
of our public school system that really have merit, such 
as the condition of the rural schools, inadequate compen- 
sation of school teachers, lack of preparation of teachers, 
is to know whether we are making substantial progress 
on these difiicult problems under the present system. 
Looking at the situation historically instead of by the 
" shock " method, and discounting passing war conditions, 
we find that although we are still far from what we should 
attain, enormous progress has been made, especially in 
the past decade. We think it is clear that our present 

[52] 



Has Our Present System Broken Down? 

educational system has not failed and that there is no 
reason for scrapping it and no adequate reason for 
putting the Federal government into our public schools, 
or for appropriating today one hundred million dollars 
of Federal money. 



[53] 



"POVERTY" ARGUMENT FOR FEDERAL 
PARTICIPATION 

Statement op Argument 
The advocates of Federal participation claim that it 
is necessary because some of the states are too poor to 
furnish adequate schools for their children. Dr. J. Y. 
Joyner, former president of the National Education 
Association, stated it to the Committee of Congress 
in 1919 as follows: 

"Giving that in a plain statement, Mr. Chairman, 
it is this, and it is the point that I am trying to get 
to, that those who should have the most efficient 
schools, and who have the most deficient schools 
today, and the greatest inequality of educational 
opportunity are those who have the lowest amount 
of wealth to provide schools. 

"The Chairman: In other words, the greater the 
deficiency in the rural sections, the less the oppor- 
tunity and the less wealth. 

"Senator Smith: And that has always been true, 
has it not.f^ 

"Dr. Joyner: Yes, sir; but it ought not to con- 
tinue here in a democracy founded on educational 
opportunity, please God. 

" That is the point I want to come to now. I think 
I have given enough facts to show you that the rural 
people today, the rural states, and the rural commu- 
nities, taken as a whole, have the most sadly inade- 
quate educational opportunity of any part of our 
population; that the census shows that they have 
the least wealth to provide those educational oppor- 
tunities and to give through their own efforts by 
State and county taxation proper education to their 
children.* 



* This statement may be based on some purely mathematical average, 
but it would certainly lead one far astray both as to the character of the 
schools and the prosperity of leading rural States — for example, Iowa, 
Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Idaho. 

[54] 



"Poverty'^ Argument 



"If you will think of it for a moment, gentlemen, 
you can have no equality of educational opportunity 
in a county that has a diversity of wealth and popu- 
lation in the different communities, without the 
larger unit of taxation and appropriation, and you 
can have no equality of educational opportunity in 
a given State, with its great diversity of wealth and 
population and material resources, in the different 
counties and communities, without the larger unit 
of taxation and appropriation of the whole State, 
whereby the State, in cooperation with the counties 
and communities brings all the strong of the State to 
the help of all the weak of the State, and thus stimu- 
lates all the weak of all the State to help themselves 
to the extent of their ability. 

"Carrying that point a little further, gentlemen, 
in a Nation like ours, with its wide extent of terri- 
tory, from ocean to ocean, from Arctic almost to 
Torrid Zone, with its great diversity of material 
resources, with its great diversity of wealth, follow- 
ing the diversity of material resources, out of which 
wealth may be made, with its great diversity of popu- 
lation, there can be nothing approaching equalization 
of educational opportunity for every child in the 
Nation, without cooperation with the States and the 
communities, through large Federal appropriations, 
whereby all the strong States and all the strong 
people of the Nation can stand in cooperation with 
all the strong of all the States and all the strong of 
all the communities, to help all the weak of all the 
States and stimulate all the weak of all the States to 
help themselves and provide equality of educational 
opportunity, irrespective of who the child is or where 
he lives. There is the logic of the situation, gentle- 
men, as I see it." (Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, 
p. 42.) 

This poverty argument plays an important part in 
the presentation of the case of the advocates of Federal 
participation. 

[55] 



"Poverty" Argument 



STATE EQUALIZATION FUNDS 

The thought, however, is not always clear. The 
statement is urged and is unquestionably true, that in 
some counties there is so little taxable property that it 
is not possible by local taxation to furnish adequate 
educational facilities for the children living in the county. 
This situation cannot be disputed, but in order to meet 
conditions in poorer towns or counties the states almost 
universally have provided for the equalization of educa- 
tional opportunities by means of state equalization funds. 

RELATIVE WEALTH OF STATES NOT AN ISSUE 

The real question with which we are concerned is 
whether taking the state as the unit of government 
there are any states which are unable to furnish to their 
school population a fair standard of education. This 
fact appears to be taken for granted by the proponents 
of the Sterling-Towner Bill except for the statistics 
they present indicating some of the states have a larger 
per capita wealth than other states. Nowhere has any 
specific state been named as being too poor to furnish 
suitable educational facilities for its children, nor is 
there anywhere a statement of what it is that the less 
wealthy states cannot afford. The burden is squarely 
on the shoulders of those urging the radical change in 
governmental policy to show what state or what states 
really lack the resources to bring their educational system 
up to a fair standard. 

EQUALIZATION BETWEEN STATES BASED ON A 
FALSE ANALOGY 

A false analogy has been created. There is an im- 
portant difference between equalization of the wealth 
of the different states for school purposes and equaliza- 
tion within a state. 

Those who propose Federal participation fail to appre- 
ciate this fundamental distinction. Under our form of 
government the state has a sovereignty of its own. In 

[56 1 



'Poverty'^ Argument 



all activities which are not specifically given into the 
power of the Federal Government by the Constitution the 
state sovereignty is supreme. 

The analogy cannot be carried to the organization 
within the states. Each town, county, city, is the crea- 
tion of its state; it receives its charter from the state 
and is subject to the direction and control of the state. 
What is proposed in this Federal participation is in 
fact that the state system of government should be 
abolished, that the government should be free to equalize 
local taxation as between localities regardless of state 
lines. Because the wealth of the states is unequal (this 
of course was true at the time the republic was founded 
by the federation of the thirteen original states) the next 
logical step will be to establish an equalization tax for 
public health, for the administration of justice, for 
police, for poor relief, and so on and on, until the 
present character of our government is destroyed. 
Equalization within the states is a sound governmental 
procedure, but equalization of the states for education 
involves a change in the fundamental nature of our 
government. 

Moreover, the state income and the ability of a state 
to maintain a satisfactory public school system depends 
only in part upon the property within the taxable area. 
It depends quite as much also upon the willingness of 
the people of the state and their legislative and executive 
representatives to adopt a modern system of tax laws, 
to assess to its real value the property within the state, 
to collect a substantial tax upon the property thus as- 
sessed, and then to use a large proportion of the income 
thus derived for school purposes instead of frittering it 
away or using it for other less essential purposes. 

Is it not fundamentally unsound for the Federal Gov- 
ernment to go to a state or local community with a sum 
of money and say: "We know you could perfectly well 
maintain adequate schools just as well as many other 

[571 



'Poverty" Argument 



communities all over the country are actually doing, 
but as you won't make the sacrifice, here is some money 
we have taken away from these other people for you to 
use for the purpose." Not only is the idea unsound as 
tending to weaken local self government and local 
responsibility for local conditions, but unless a Federal 
inspector stays on the ground and bosses the job it is 
going to be a simple game to take the money and as 
a result of antiquated tax laws, inadequate assessments, 
careless collection of taxes, and turning state funds into 
other channels, to continue the same lack of equalization 
of educational opportunity between this state and some 
other state that existed before these Federal largesses 
were set in motion. 

EQUALIZATION REQUIRES CONTROL OF 
EXPENDITURE 

If it is proposed to equalize the wealth of the states 
and take away funds from a wealthier state to be donated 
to a state which it is alleged is too poor to furnish 
educational opportunities for its people, unless teeth 
are put into this bill and a corps of Federal officials 
created to follow up, audit, and supervise the expendi- 
ture of the money, the government will be guilty of noth- 
ing less than wanton spoliation. This has been recog- 
nized in the administration of the state equalization 
funds. Inasmuch as a state's control of education is 
supreme within the limits of the state the necessary 
standards have been set up and suitable inspection 
provided to see that the communities which receive 
money from the state properly expend it. 

EXAMINATION OF POVERTY ARGUMENT 

Is there any state too poor to furnish a fair standard 
of educational opportunity to its children? No state 
has as yet established the fact that it cannot provide a 
good common school education for all its children and 
before we proceed to radically alter the theory and 

[58] 



' Poverty ^^ Argunnent 



working of our government we ought to insist upon a 
clear and accurate statement of the economic facts from 
the states which desire to make the claim. No state and 
no authorized state official appeared at the hearing before 
the Joint Senate and House Committee to even make a 
perfunctory request for this bill and much less was there 
an attempt made by any person whatever to present 
facts which laid the slightest basis for such a claim. The 
wealth statistics presented to Congress by the advocates 
of the bill show that the least wealthy states were all 
Southern States. But there is an abundance of evidence 
from official state reports within these very states that 
the real difficulty is not poverty but that their systems 
of assessment and of taxation are poorly administered 
and of an antiquated and ineffective character. 

BESULTS OF TAX REFORM IN KENTUCKY 

For example, the state of Kentucky, one of the eight 
poorest states, according to the figures given Congress 
recently put into effect a revised taxation system. The 
result is given in the following quotation from a state- 
ment of Hon. M. M. Logan, Chairman State Tax Com- 
mission of Kentucky: 

"Our new tax laws have proved wonderfully suc- 
cessful. The county assessors last year (1917) 
turned in a total assessment of $922,000,000 including 
bank deposits. This year the assessment turned in 
by the county assessors under direction of the State 
Tax Commission will reach $1,400,000,000 or a total 
of $1,579,000,000 which shows a net gain in one year 
of $657,000,000 in total property listed for assessment. 
Exclusive of bank deposits, our total intangibles last 
year were only $67,000,000. This year, exclusive 
of bank deposits, intangibles will probably reach 
$260,000,000." 

Again Mr. Logan says : 

"I think the best feature of our law is the small 
rate on intangibles as well as the small rates on 

[59 1 



^^ Poverty ^^ Argument 



manufacturing machinery and raw materials. I 
believe we have gone a long way towards solving the 
different and perplexing questions of taxation. Not- 
withstanding our tax rate was reduced \5(^ on the 
hundred dollars of assessed valuations for state pur- 
poses, which was equivalent to a reduction of two 
million dollars, we will collect a good deal more 
money this year under the new law than we col- 
lected last year. It appears now that including license 
taxes imposed at the special session in 1917, we will 
have about two million dollars more revenue than 
we did last year." (Report of Special Tax Commis- 
sion of Georgia, 1919, p. 27.) 

RESULTS OF TAX REFORM IN NORTH CAROLINA 

North Carolina, also described as one of the less 
wealthy states, put into effect a new system of taxation 
in 1920 with the following results, as described by the 
Special Tax Commission of South Carolina, which inves- 
tigated the situation in North Carolina and reported as 
follows : 

"This act was ratified on March 11, 1919, and 
by August, 1920, the work of listing all property and 
revaluing the same at its full money value was com- 
pleted. A representative of your committee visited 
Raleigh on September 16, 1920, and went over the 
situation fully with the North Carolina Tax Com- 
mission. From the facts furnished it appears that 
the results of this revaluation were as follows: 

"1. The taxable property of the state was raised 
from $1,099,120,389 to $3,158,480,072, or practi- 
cally trebled. 

"2. The general levy for State, Pension, School and 
County purposes was reduced from 14]^ mills to 
4.98 mills. (This was the reduction figured by the 
Tax Commissioner. When the Legislature met in 
Special Session, it removed entirely what is called 
the State Tax, but this does not include school taxes, 
the pension fund, etc., as it does in this State, South 
Carolina.) 

[601 



''Poverty" Argument 



"3. One million acres of untaxed lands were dis- 
covered and placed on the tax books. 

"4. The amount of intangible property classified as 
solvent credits was increased from $90,055,893 to 
$214,546,231 or not quite 2^ times. 

"5. Assessed value of railroads was increased from 
$125,417,618 to $250,587,158 or approximately 
doubled. 

"6. The real estate assessment made in 1915 was 
increased from $506,808,394 to $2,006,124,997 or 
very nearly quadrupled. 

" 7. Personal property was increased from 
$426,062,907 assessed in 1918 to $807,866,443 or 
not quite doubled. 

"8. Cotton mills were increased from $58,266,591 
to $205,581,304 or about 3}^ times. 

" 9. Over 20,000 taxable polls were discovered and 
placed on tax books. 

"10. The cost of revaluation to the State was 
about $130,000." 

(Report of Special Tax Commission of South 
Carolina, 1920, p. 65.) 

NEED OF TAX REFORM IN SOUTH CAROLINA DESCRIBED 
BY SPECIAL TAX COMMISSION OF THAT STATE 

As a further indication that the root of the diflBculty 
in these states is the nature and to a minor degree the 
administration of the tax laws, we quote from the Special 
Tax Commission of the State of South Carolina describ- 
ing the situation in that state as late as 1920. A portion 
of the resolution of the State Assembly creating the 
commission reads as follows : 

(Report of Joint Special Committee on Revenue 
and Taxation appointed by the South Carolina Gen- 
eral Assembly Session of 1920; submitted to the 
Regular Session of 1921.) 

"Whereas, it is a matter of common knowledge 
that a considerable proportion of the taxable prop- 
erty of the State is now escaping taxation, and that 

[611 



"Poverty" Argument 



methods and sources of raising revenue now generally 
resorted to by other States are not in use in this 
State ..." (Page 6.) 

The report also States: 

"But, having disposed of one disturbing issue, 
there arose another equally embarrassing alternative. 
That was a choice between leaving severely alone and 
thereby tacitly approving, a tax system that had led 
to the imposition of an excessively high tax rate upon 
property, or taking some action toward challenging 
the right of such a system longer to exist and function 
in its present form. Lined up behind the policy of 
'masterly inactivity' were a number of potent in- 
fluences — the force of inertia, the example of pre- 
ceding legislatures, the anaesthesia of flush times, 
and (more formidable than all others) the well- 
founded belief that 'monkeying with taxes' in any 
shape or form is dangerous to the legislators' political 
health. On the other hand, were the considerations- 
that for many years past the State had been, to the 
knowledge of all men, under an outlaw tax system; 
that the system itself in its actual legal form and sub- 
stance, was under the condemnation of the best mod- 
ern opinion of political economists and practical tax 
administrators; that if the States established insti- 
tutions and the governmental activities to which 
it was already committed were to keep pace with the 
natural growth and development of the State the 
need for increased revenues would grow more and 
more acute, and — most potent of all considerations 
— that the general property tax as a producer of 
revenue had about reached the breaking point." 
(Page 5.) 

"That a vast amount of the [taxable property of 
the State is not upon the tax books at all is not only 
well known, but is acquiesced in and openly justified 
by the majority of our citizens. All of which can 
mean but one thing — that the operation of the tax 
system of South Carolina is in point of fact as much 

[62] 



Poverty^' Argument 



of an outlaw business as the gentle art of cracking 
safes or of distilling moonshine whiskey." (Page 25.) 

"It would therefore seem to be a conservative esti- 
mate to place the value of all taxable intangible prop- 
erty in South Carolina now escaping taxation, at not 
less than $300,000,000 which is more than 70 per cent 
of the present assessed value of all property of every 
character in the State." (Page 43.) 

"In directing especial attention to the escape of 
this form of property from the tax rolls, the Commit- 
tee has not been inadvertent to the fact that much 
real estate is also escaping. The Committee has 
reason to believe that there are thousands of acres of 
land outside of the towns and cities that are not upon 
the tax books. The U. S. Census Bureau (1912) 
gives the land area of South Carolina as 19,516,800 
acres. The acreage returned for taxation in 1919 for 
all lands outside of cities and towns was 18,693,519. 
This leaves 823,281 acres to be accounted for as town 
lots. Even in the cities, where the listing and assess- 
ment of real estate would seem to be comparatively 
easy, improved lots have been known to escape taxa- 
tion for years. In 1915 the Tax Commission of this 
State had surveys made of five of the city blocks in 
Columbia and found as to three of them that two- 
thirds of the land and one-half of the buildings in one 
block were not returned for taxation; in another 
block twenty-three-fortieths (2%o) or over half of the 
land and half of the buildings were escaping taxa- 
tion; in the third block, 23 front feet, valued at 
$460,000 and a lot and small building valued at $600 
escaped taxation." (Page 35.) 

This commission in summing up its deductions begins 
with the following two conclusions : 

"From the foregoing broad outline of the State's 
financial affairs the following would seem to be legiti- 
mate deductions: 

"1. That the State of South Carolina is not a 
pauper colony. 

I 63 J 



"Poverty^' Argument 



"2. That a State wliich is spending approximately 
%'V2 times less than the average American Com- 
monwealth for State purposes is probably doing less 
for its people through governmental agencies than 
they are entitled to." (Page 16.) 

TAXATION SITUATION IN GEORGIA 

In Georgia a Special Tax Commission reported in 
1919 and called attention to the following facts: 

All Property 
Valuation Assessment in Georgia 

"1912 2,382,600,866 842,358,342 36% 
1918 4,258,919,048 1,079,261,333 25%" 

(Page 4.) 

It is not surprising that the tax rates may have seemed 
excessively high when the basis of valuation was actually 
reduced on the average from 36 per cent of true value 
in 1912 to 25 per cent of true value in 1918. 

The Georgia Commission further called the attention 
of its legislature to the following facts : 
"1916 
Average per Capita State Tax U. S. . . . $5.09 

So. Atlantic States 3.26 

Per Capita State Tax Georgia '^.55 

Only five states pay less." (Page 28.) 

TAXATION SITUATION IN TENNESSEE 

In Tennessee the situation is thus described by a 
Special Tax Commission in 1915: 

"It is not surprising therefore that despite the 
advances in the values of land all over the State 
which are well known to all those who have investi- 
gated the subject the tax aggregate has grown very 
slowly most of the increases, as shown being in the 
assessments of city property. In fact the Comp- 
troller's report for 1914 shows that 31 counties re- 
duced their average acreage assessment betw-een 
1913 and 1914 and that there were actually six 

[641 



* ' Poverty ' ' A rgument 



counties which were assessed at less per acre on 
acreage property in 1914 than in 1879. In the ten 
years between 1904 and 1914 the total assessments 
of the State increased from $429,767,708 to $672,- 
754,691 or 5Q.5 per cent. This is not an increase 
commensurate with the rapid growth of wealth. 
According to the Federal census the capital invested 
in manufactures in Tennessee was $63,141,000 in 
1899 and $167,924,000 in 1909, an increase of 166 
per cent. The value of farm property in 1900 was 
$341,202,025 and in 1910 $612,520,836, an increase 
of 79 per cent. The average acreage assessment 
now is less than $9. 

"These figures speak for themselves. Our prop- 
erty every year is assessed on a lower basis compared 
to value. 

"In addition, statements of assessors before this 
committee show that in many cases throughout the 
State the bases of assessment in counties adjoining one 
another vary between 25 per cent and 60 per cent of 
the actual value of the property in those counties. 
The game of dodging a fair share of State taxes is be- 
ing played all over the State just as some individuals 
dodge taxes in their individual assessment, and such 
a thing as actual cash-value assessments in accord- 
ance with the assessment law of 1907 is practically 
unknown anywhere. In fact numerous assessors 
testified that they dared not assess property at its 
actual cash-value; for, if they did, they were sure 
to lose their ofiicial positions at the next election — 
if, indeed, they were not before that time run out 
of the county. 

"We are unable to furnish statistics as to the 
actual value of property in Tennessee as compared 
with the assessment, but from those collected by its 
agents the Federal Census Bureau estimates that the 
assessed value of property is about 38 per cent of the 
actual value of property in the State. We are in- 
clined to the belief, however, from admissions made 
by assessors and tax payers who have come before 

[65] 



Poverty'^ Argument 



this committee that this estimate is much too high." 
(Report of Special Tax Commission of Tennessee, 
pp. 10, 11.) 

"Tennessee is now one of the most cheaply gov- 
erned states in the Union. Only four other states, 
all Southern, imposed a lighter burden on their tax 
payers as shown by per capita receipts and expend- 
itures. These in Tennessee now average only about 
$2 per capita annually, which is about one-half the 
average for the United States and considerably less 
than the average in Southern States. 

"All the states bordering Tennessee except North 
Carolina and Mississippi expend larger sums per 
capita. Nevertheless, within 10 years our receipts 
increased approximately from $2,600,000 to $4,- 
600,000, the increase being constant from year to 
year showing the prosperity of the State and our 
expenses have increased in proportion. When we 
consider that in 1904 the State paid out for charities, 
schools and pensions the sum of $989,609.44 and in 
1914 paid out $3,075,142.45 for the same purposes 
we see how the heart of our State has throbbed in 
unison with the great movements affecting this 
nation. Now are we going to escape our obligations 
to do more for our heroes of the past, for our youth 
the hope of the future, and for the unfortunates to 
whom we wish again to open the door of opportunity. 
And also we are under obligation to do much more 
than we have done for good roads and in aid of 
agriculture, mining, forestry and for other good 
purposes." (Page 34.) 

TAXATION SITUATION IN MISSISSIPPI 

In Mississippi the situation is similar. (See report of 
Senate and House Committee on State Revenue System 
and Fiscal Affairs submitted to the Mississippi Legis- 
lature in 1918.) 

" Mississippi's antiquated revenue system must be 
reformed so as to establish an equitable and adequate 
system for raising the states' income as well as a 

[661 



Poverty^' Argument 



logical and economical method of disbursing public 
funds." (Page 9.) 

"Deficits have been further increased by a reduc- 
tion in some sources of state revenue, despite the 
fact that the past few years have shown great devel- 
opment in the material prosperity of our people. 
For example, there was a reduction of $20,781,736 
in the total Assessed Valuation in 1915 from what 
it was in 1914. In 1915 there were 127,242 more 
acres of land in cultivation as appears from the 
assessment rolls than in 1913 and yet the assessed 
valuation of the cultivated lands in 1915 with this 
increased acreage was $1,512,255 less than in 1913. 
And there was a decrease of $5,000,000 in the valua- 
tion of wild lands also. These figures are significantly 
suggestive. Second : Our system of taxation was not 
equitable. More deplorable and intricate than the 
inadequacy of our system was its inequity. Under it 
a tax furnishing an insufficient income was a greater 
burden on a portion of our people than a sufficient 
tax equitably distributed would have been. It was 
to be regretted that because of variations in land 
assessments this phase of the question has come to 
be regarded by many as a sectional one. This view 
was erroneous for some of the greatest inequahties 
existed between values in adjoining counties. 

"Land for instance in Jones County paid to the 
State a tax of 5^ per acre; in Jasper County which 
is adjacent the same character of land paid 2.7^ per 
acre; Harrison County paid 21.9^ per acre; Jackson 
County adjacent and of the same character of land 
paid 2.7^ per acre; Lee County paid 4^.1^ per acre; 
Monroe adjacent, paid 2.4^ per acre; Covington 
County paid 4.9^ per acre while Franklin County 
paid 1.9^ per acre. These figures are only illustra- 
tive of the general condition. These variations 
were due to the fact that we have 80 different 
Boards of Supervisors, each having supreme control 
over the assessment rolls of its particular county. 
Valuations were reduced, local levies increased, and 

[67] 



'Poverty" Argument 



the state deprived of its legitimate and necessary 
income. 

"The tax payer was supposed to list his property 
at its actual value as specified by the State Consti- 
tution and not purposely to reduce his assessment 
because his neighbors had reduced theirs. Yet many 
citizens who are the soul of honor in their general 
dealings with their fellow men, felt that they were 
compelled to do that very thing. Because his neigh- 
bors never listed their property at its actual value 
the levies were two or three times higher than they 
would be if the law were complied with and there- 
fore each tax payer felt that he could ill afford to be 
an exception by listing his property at full value. 

"The practise of undervaluation resulted in high 
levies and high levies drove certain classes of prop- 
erty which might be easily concealed from the assess- 
ment rolls. In many districts of this State the rate 
of taxation was as high as 45 mills and sometimes 
even higher. The man who lends money at 8 per cent 
and pays 4 3^ per cent taxes feels that he is not being 
justly dealt with by his Government which is thereby 
exacting of him an income tax of more than 50 per 
cent on gross earnings. Money is worth more than 
6 per cent in Mississippi when loaned in small sums 
and the small borrower has to pay more for it if he 
gets it. As a result subterfuges for evading taxation 
were resorted to. The borrower paid the market value 
of the money he borrowed, the State lost the revenue 
and the people became accustomed and even recon- 
ciled to tax dodging. Because of high levies result- 
ing from under valuation we received practically no 
income from taxation on intangible personalty, that 
class of property which, with the industrial and 
commercial progress of recent years has increased in 
amount and value as has no other." (Page 10.) 

CONCLUSION 

In the face of these statements not from outsiders 
but from the pubhc officials of the states towards which 

[681 



Poverty^' Argument 



those urging this measure seem to point the finger in 
their poverty argument, it seems clear the proponents 
should come forward with more and better and more 
specific proof as to just where the states are which cannot 
maintain a good sound public school system. Let us 
have their names. They will find themselves among 
friends. If they need help we shall all be glad to try to 
find some sound way to do it. But this present measure, 
as will be pointed out in more detail later, simply throws 
a hundred million dollars round the country to the rich 
and the less rich alike in the vague hope that somewhere 
some small fraction of it will fall into the lap of some one 
needing it. 

Meanwhile the gratifying truth is that practically 
every one of the states, on whose behalf the claim is 
apparently being put forward, is proceeding to modernize 
its taxation laws and practices and to successfully dis- 
charge on its own account this function of local self- 
government. 

PUBLIC INTEREST MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY 

The advocates of the bill have overestimated the 
relative importance of public interest and money. Pub- 
lic interest never fails to produce the needed funds. But 
the donation of Federal money is not always successful 
in stimulating public interest. It is more likely to kill 
responsibility and destroy initiative. 

EXAMPLE OF MISSISSIPPI 

The following example from Mississippi, recently 
described by Charles Riborg Mann, well illustrates that 
"where there 's a will there 's a way." 

"Mississippi has been held up by the proponents 
of Federal subsidies for education as a state which 
has so little taxable wealth that it cannot itself raise 
enough money for the proper support of schools. 
Therefore — so the argument runs — it is neces- 

f69l 



^'Poverty" Argument 



sary to call in the Federal government to collect 
taxes from New York and distribute subsidies in 
Mississippi to help the inhabitants there in estab- 
lishing their school system. 

"It happens that in Mississippi in 1910 a man 
with creative imagination visited the state and saw 
what was needed to create better schools. Having 
some private funds at his disposal, he employed 
another man with a creative idea to spend his time 
among the people of Mississippi showing them how 
they could improve their conditions by organizing 
corn clubs and canning clubs and consolidated 
schools. The work prospered. The legislature 
passed the necessary statutes authorizing the es- 
tablishment of consolidated schools. These schools 
have now grown rapidly until there are 515 of them, 
each replacing from two to seven or eight small one- 
room schools. 

"The course of study in consolidated schools is 
not the conventional course given in most public 
schools; it is aimed at teaching the children to be 
productive citizens. When the corn clubs demon- 
strated that it is possible to raise 130 bushels of corn 
to an acre, and the schools showed how to prepare 
the land for other crops than cotton, the adults of 
the district became interested and sought further 
information. The result has been that the produc- 
tivity of the communities about the consolidated 
schools has increased, their ready money has multi- 
plied, and their bank credit has become more stable. 
They have taxed themselves heavily to support these 
schools, and the schools have become the centre 
of social and uplift work for their respective com- 
munities. 

"All of this work in Mississippi was done by the 
people themselves, without Federal subsidies, be- 
cause of the skilful missionary work of one man with 
a dynamic idea. When in 1917 the Smith-Hughes 
law was passed and Federal subsidies were available, 
these contributed somewhat to the further develop- 

[70] 



^'^ Poverty"" Argument 



ment of the schools; but at present only 30 of the 
525 consoHdated schools are receiving aid from the 
Federal grant. 

"This experience of Mississippi indicates that 
even in communities that seem to have low taxable 
wealth, there is latent energy which when aroused 
enables them to achieve great results for themselves. 
It indicates that when a school delivers goods the 
people want, the people are ready to pay the price. 
The financial difficulties of schools at the present 
time are not due to lack of money among the people." 
(Charles Riborg Mann, "Federal Organization for 
Education," in Educational Review, February, 1923, 
pp. 104 ff.) 

EXAMPLE OF KENTUCKY 

Another striking illustration of what an awakened 
public opinion can accomplish is shown by the work 
already done in Kentucky in removing illiteracy under 
the leadership of Mrs. Cora Wilson Stewart. We quote 
from her testimony before the Joint Committee of Con- 
gress : 

"It has been my privilege for the past eight years 
to deal exclusively with adult illiterates in my own 
and other States and from that experience I have 
found how eager these people are to learn, how 
grateful they are for a chance, and how rapidly they 
progress. In 1911 we started the movement to 
eradicate illiteracy in one county in the State of 
Kentucky. Later it developed into a State- wide 
movement to eradicate illiteracy before 1920. Other 
States took up the plan and began to campaign 
against illiteracy until now almost every State in 
the Union is making an attempt to stamp illiteracy 
out of the Commonwealth. In some States this 
work is being done under the direction of illiteracy 
commissions; in some, under State departments of 
education; in others, under volunteer organizations. 
The State that is not doing something to relieve adult 
illiterates is the exception. 

[711 



' ' Poverty ' ' A rgument 



"Senator Walsh has asked the question whether 
or not Kentucky has appropriated money for the 
removal of illiteracy from the State. Ten thousand 
dollars was first appropriated for the purpose, and 
later the interest was so increased that the legislature 
appropriated $75,000, making $85,000 in all that 
Kentucky has appropriated for the relief of adult 
illiterates. 

"I am sure that you are more interested in the 
results of the campaign to eradicate illiteracy than 
anything else. The test of any educational system 
is its results. In Oklahoma, 5,000 adults were 
taught to read and write in the moonlight schools 
in one year; in North Carolina, 10,000 were taught 
in the year of 1915, and the work continues with 
increasing success. In New Mexico, they have 
taught 45,000 to read and write since 1915, says 
the State superintendent of public instruction. You 
will agree with me, I am sure, that the State in- 
spector and examiner of our State is an official quali- 
fied to make a report. In the State of Kentucky it 
is his duty to report on the various commissions and 
departments and to show what they have and what 
they have not done. In the report of this official to 
the governor of Kentucky in December, 1918, he 
stated that after examining the official reports of 
school superintendents and the sworn reports of 
teachers, he found that in Kentucky 100,000 persons 
had been taught to read and write. This is a demon- 
stration of what has been done in one State in re- 
deeming men and women from illiteracy." (Record 
of Joint Hearings, 1919,pp. 102-104.) 



72 



DESCRIPTION OF STERLING-TOWNER 

BILL 

The way is now cleared for a more detailed discussion 
of the Sterling-Towner Bill. 

The bill appropriates $100,000,000, divided as'follows: 
$7,500,000 for the removal of ilhteracy; $7,500,000 for 
Americanization; $20,000,000 for physical education; 
$15,000,000 for the preparation of public school teachers, 
and $50,000,000 for equalizing educational opportunities 
in the states. 

The basis of apportionment follows: The $7,500,000 
for the removal of illiteracy is to be apportioned to the 
states in the proportions which their illiterate population 
of fourteen years or over, not including foreign-born 
illiterates, bears to the total illiterate population of the 
United States. The $7,500,000 for Americanization is 
to be apportioned in the proportion which the respec- 
tive foreign-born population of the states bears to the 
total foreign-born population of the United States. The 
$20,000,000 for physical education is to be apportioned 
to the states in the proportion which their respective 
population bears to the total population of the United 
States (per capita basis). The $15,000,000 for the 
training of teachers is to be apportioned in the propor- 
tion in which the number of public school teachers in 
the respective states bears to the total number of public 
school teachers in the United States. The $50,000,000 
for equalization is to be apportioned one-half in the 
proportion that the number of children between the ages 
of six and twenty-one of the respective states bears to the 
total number of such children in the United States, and 
one-half in the proportion which the number of school 

[731 



Description of Sterling- Towner Bill 



teachers employed in the respective states bears to the 
total number of public school teachers in the United 
States. 

THE "fifty-fifty" BASIS 

The appropriations are to be made available to the 
states on the so-called "fifty-fifty" basis, which means 
that a state in order to receive Federal funds must appro- 
priate for each specific purpose at least as much money 
as it expects to receive for that purpose from the Federal 
Government. For physical education, the training of 
teachers and equalization, the state must appropriate, 
however, not less than it appropriated the preceding 
year. In this amount may be figured all appropriations 
for the various purposes designated, whether made by 
the state itself or by any city, town, or county, or other 
sub-division maintaining public schools. 

The proponents of the bill seem to differ among them- 
selves as to the extent to which the Federal appro- 
priations would require increased appropriations by the 
states. Some of the proponents believe that the bill, 
if accepted by all the states, would mean an increase 
in the state appropriations of $100,000,000. Others 
favoring the bill, with whom we substantially agree, 
have taken the position that except in some cases 
for the special purposes, state appropriations would not 
need to be increased. For example, The National Com- 
mittee for a Department of Education in its pamphlet 
says: 

"The states are now spending more than ten 
times the total allotment, so that, except in some 
cases for the special purposes, appropriations would 
not need to be increased to qualify for the total allot- 
ment to the state." 

It is obvious that many of the state legislatures 
will exert themselves to obtain the maximum of Federal 
money with a minimum expenditure of state money and 

f 74 1 



Description of Sterling- Towner Bill 



that a considerable shifting about of the items in the 
present state appropriations will take place. The largest 
appropriation ■ — • that for $50,000,000 for equalization — 
is so vaguely defined that it hardly seems likely that it 
would involve an increased appropriation in any state in 
order to obtain the Federal funds. 

MORTGAGING STATE FUNDS 

One of the serious but inevitable results of the "fifty- 
fifty" policy will undoubtedly be the distortion of state 
educational budgets by the segregation of too much 
of the available funds for special and limited purposes 
which Congress with less knowledge of local budgets and 
local conditions will over-emphasize, but which states 
will submit to rather than lose their Federal plum. If 
this meant that sufiicient funds would be still avail- 
able for other essential purposes the result would be 
less harmful. But certainly this will not always be the 
case. 

The bill does not give evidence of careful analysis. 
No explanation has been offered by those who prepared 
the bill or those who advocated its passage before the 
Joint Committee as to how conclusions were arrived at 
either as to the amounts or the division of the appro- 
priations. They are all good round figures and the total 
adds up to $100,000,000, which is another good round 
figure. 

ILLITERACY APPROPRIATION 

While the creators and proponents of the Sterling- 
Towner Bill in presenting their arguments for the bill 
before the Joint Committee lumped the great number 
of negro illiterates into their illiteracy figures and used 
them to urge an illiteracy appropriation, yet when we 
come to the provisions of the bill we find nothing requir- 
ing any fixed proportion of the money, or indeed any 
part of the illiteracy money, to be used to reduce negro 
illiteracy. 

[75 1 



Description of Sterling -Towner Bill 





Native White 


Negro 


Amount State 


State 


Illiterates 


Illiterates 


would Receive* 


Alabama . . . 


65,394 


210,690 


$698,689 


Georgia . . . 


66,796 


261,115 


775,350 


Louisiana . . 


81,957 


206,730 


676,976 


Mississippi . . 


22,242 


205,813 


547,545 


North Carolina 


104,844 


133,674 


575,253 


South Carolina 


38,742 


181,422 


551,315 


Virginia . . . 


70,475 


122,322 


459,431 


Totals . . . 


450,450 


1,321,766 


$4,284,559 



AMERICANIZATION APPROPRIATION 

With regard to the appropriation for Americanization 
it is difficult to understand the reasons which led the 
framers of the bill to devise a plan appropriating such 
huge sums of money to the states already having strong 
educational departments, and which in all cases are now 
providing additional facilities for Americanization and 
which everyone admits are well able to sustain the ex- 
pense out of their own funds, and, so far as we are 
aware, are entirely willing to do so. Under the bill, the 
following eight states receive approximately $5,000,000 
out of the total appropriation of $7,500,000 for 
Americanization : 

New York $1,525,146 

Pennsylvania 800,517 

Illinois 668,949 

Massachusetts 587,880 

New Jersey ...... 366,737 

Ohio 332,097 

Michigan . 331,640 

California 325,469 

$4,938,435 

* The figures for the apportionment of the appropriations quoted in 
this report are those presented to the Committee of Congress at the hear- 
ing, July 10, 1919. (Record of Hearing, pp. 23-24.) 

[76] 



Description of Sterling -Towner Bill 



PHYSICAL EDUCATION APPROPRIATION 

We find here, again, huge appropriations of Federal 
funds are to be made to states which already have well- 
developed physical educational systems in their schools, 
states whose ability to pay their own education expenses 
no one anywhere at any time has ever questioned. The 
following states receive more than $500,000 for physical 
education : 

New York $1,982,211 

Pennsylvania 1,667,161 

Illinois 1,226,393 

Ohio 1,036,848 

Texas 847,497 

Massachusetts 732,195 

Missouri 716,300 

Michigan 611,212 

Indiana 587,440 

Georgia 567,483 

New Jersey 551,833 

California 517,116 

Wisconsin 507,614 

Total $11,551,303 

EQUALIZATION APPROPRIATION 

This bill bears little relation to the educational needs 
of the country described by its promoters as its reason 
for being. This is to be noted in the treatment of the 
largest appropriation — $50,000,000 for the equaliza- 
tion of education — described in the Act as follows: 

"Shall be used in public elementary and secondary 
schools for the partial payment of teachers' salaries, 
for providing better instruction and extending school 
terms, especially in rural schools and schools in 
sparsely settled localities, and otherwise providing 
equally good educational opportunities for the 
children in the several states, and for the extension 
and adaptation of public libraries for educational 
purposes." 

[77 1 



Description of Sterling-Towner Bill 



This appropriation is apparently intended to strike 
at the very root of the two most important arguments 
advanced for Federal participation, — need of improving 
rural schools and of increasing teachers' salaries. 

The basis of distribution, however, bears no particular 
relation to the necessities. This has been well commented 
upon by Professor Judd, Director of the School of 
Education, University of Chicago: 

"So I say with regard to subsidies, let us have 
clearness, let us make our Federal subsidies on a 
sound scientific basis. We have been saying to the 
Superintendents, *Do not ask your community for 
funds unless you are clear and have distinct grounds 
for your demands and definite plans for distribution 
of the funds. Be intelligent before you go before 
your people. But in this larger national demand we 
have gone before Congress with a bill that lacks 
every one of the requirements that we impose on 
local schools. Every figure in the present bill is a 
mere guess; not only so but the principles for the 
distribution of such funds as are specified are a de- 
plorable series of incoherences. I will give one illus- 
tration. Take two items, the illiteracy fund and the 
teachers' fund. The illiteracy fund is distributed in 
proportion to the number of illiterates in the state. 
Let us assume that this is a wise method of distri- 
bution. When we turn to the teachers' fund we find 
that it is to be distributed according to the number 
of teachers in the state. This looks like the same 
principle as that accepted for the distribution of the 
illiteracy fund but in reality it is the reverse. We 
give money in the case of illiterates to cure defects. 
We give money to the teachers in proportion to their 
excellence." (University of Illinois Bulletin, De- 
cember 26, 1921, p. 99.) 

Bearing in mind the importance that has been given to 
the inequality in wealth between the states by the advo- 
cates of the bill, it will be interesting to compare the 
allotment which is to be used for improving rural schools 

[781 



Description of Sterling-Towner Bill 



and increasing the pay of teachers between the poor and 
wealthy states, those now paying low salaries and those 
paying high salaries, and states with high percentages 
and low percentages of rural population. We give the 
following figures : 



Appropriation 
for Equalization 


Per Unit 

of Rural 

Population 


State 


Percentage Average 

Rural of Total Salary 

Population Population Teachers 

19m Rural 1917-18 


$1,496,150 


$7.40 


Massachusetts 


202,108 5.2 


$858 


4,363,978 


2.43 


New York 


1,795,383 17.3 


976 


2,795,978 


1.34 


Illinois 


2,079,602 32.1 


778 


2,327,513 


.74 


Texas 


3,150,539 67.6 


487 


843,067 


.67 


So. Carolina 


1,389,737 82.5 


315 


1,020,874 


.66 


Mississippi 


1,550,497 86.6 


291 



We find that New York, a wealthy state with a rural 
population of only 17.3 per cent, and paying its teachers 
an average salary of $976, is to receive $4,363,978 of the 
equalization appropriation, or $2.43 per person of the 
rural population, while Mississippi, which is 86.6 per cent 
rural, and pays its teachers an average salary of $291, 
is to receive $1,020,874, or only $0.66 per person of the 
rural population. As a matter of fact, the number of 
rural inhabitants in Mississippi is very nearly as large 
as the number in New York State. Massachusetts, 
with a rural population of only 202,108 and paying its 
teachers an average salary of $858, is to receive $1,496,- 
150, or $7.40 per person of the rural population for 
improving rural schools and raising salaries of its teach- 
ers, while South Carolina, with a rural population of 
1,389,737 (almost seven times that of Massachusetts), 
and paying its teachers $315, is to receive $843,067, 
or $0.67 per person of the rural population. The com- 
parison between Texas and Illinois further illustrates 
the same absurd results for the method of apportion- 
ment. The bill purports to equalize rural conditions, 
when as a matter of fact its effect will be still more to 
exaggerate the present inequalities. 

[791 



Description of Sterling- Towner Bill 



THE APPROPRIATION FOR TRAINING TEACHERS 

Fifteen million dollars is to be appropriated for the 
training of teachers. Comment should be made on one 
feature of this appropriation. It is provided among 
other things, that the money appropriated under this 
section may be used "to provide an increased number 
of trained and competent teachers by encouraging, 
through the establishment of scholarships and other- 
wise, a greater number of talented young people to 
make adequate preparation for public-school service." 

This policy is referred to by leading advocates of the 
bill as the extension of the "West Point" policy to 
normal schools; the theory being that as the govern- 
ment furnishes free education to the students at West 
Point and Annapolis the same principle should be ex- 
tended to the students of the normal schools. (Keith 
and Bagley, "The Nation and the Schools," p. 286.) 

We are right in "West Pointing" our fighting ma- 
chine but let us go slow in "West Pointing" our teachers. 

As there are at present more than 250 state, city, and 
county normal schools with an enrollment in 1918 of 
110,053, the possible consequences of this policy to the 
Federal treasury may well be viewed with some concern. 

DIVISION BETWEEN STATES 

We have not referred as yet to the division of the 
total appropriation as between the states. The follow- 
ing eight states receive $40,000,000 out of the $100,000,- 
000 appropriation: 

New York $9,246,846 

Pennsylvania 7,338,739 

Illinois . 5,595,490 

Ohio 4,712,732 

Massachusetts 3,261,087 

Michigan 3,046,305 

Iowa 3,019,743 

Texas 4,397,742 

$40,618,684 
[801 



Description of Sterling-Towner Bill 



These states, while doubtless having their share of 
shortcomings, cannot be classed as states with backward 
educational institutions. They pay their teachers well 
above the average for the country. There is neither 
an educational nor a poverty argument for Federal aid 
for these states. 

A LOG-ROLLING BILL 

The evidence irresistibly leads to the conclusion 
that the bill has not been framed with a view to doing 
the maximum for education. Statesmanlike educa- 
tional policy is not there. The hand of the skilled 
politician is seen. The bill is constructed on well- 
known log-rolling principles. There is to be a piece 
of pie for everybody. The bill itself is a most unhappy 
augury of the sort of legislation that may be expected 
once we embark upon a policy of Federal participation. 



[811 



FEDERAL SUBSIDIES MAKE FEDERAL 
CONTROL INEVITABLE 

We have stated throughout our argument that Fed- 
eral participation in pubKc school education is revolu- 
tionary because it means Federal control of our public 
school system. Many of those who advocate the bill, 
however, sincerely believe that it contains every pre- 
caution against Federal control. This thought is well 
evidenced by the resolution passed by the National 
Education Association at the convention in Salt Lake 
City in 1920, as follows: 

"We urge the immediate passage of the Smith- 
Towner Bill by which Federal participation in the 
support of public education is provided and which, 
at the same time, preserves the autonomy of the 
state in the management of its schools. We con- 
demn the efforts of the enemies of the public schools 
to defeat this measure, particularly by stigma- 
tizing it as a measure which involves national con- 
trol of education. Such control is not only clearly 
unconstitutional, but it is out of harmony with the 
spirit of American institutions. This Association 
pledges itself unreservedly to oppose any move- 
ment or proposal that would centralize control of 
the public schools." 

It is further pointed out by those who support the 
bill and condemn Federal control that any danger of 
Federal control is specifically provided against by the 
language of the bill itself: 

"All funds apportioned to a State shall be dis- 
tributed and administered in accordance with the 
laws of said State in like manner as the funds 
provided by State and local authorities for the 
same purpose, and the State and local educational 
authorities of said State shall determine the courses 
of study, plans, and methods for carrying out the 
purposes of this section within said State in ac- 
cordance with the laws thereof." 

[82] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



And provided further: 

"That all the educational facilities encouraged by 
the provisions of this act and accepted by a State 
shall be organized, supervised, and administered ex- 
clusively by the legally constituted State and local 
educational authorities of said State, and the Secre- 
tary of Education shall exercise no authority in 
relation thereto; and this Act shall not be construed 
to imply Federal control of education within the 
States, nor to impair the freedom of the States in 
the conduct and management of their respective 
school systems." 

But these limiting words are not consistent with the 
essence and nature of the bill. If the policy imbedded 
in the bill ever gets under way they will prove inade- 
quate. They are a Ford brake on a Pierce-Arrow car. 
They don't fit and they won't hold. 

ORIGINAL FORM OF BILL SET UP FEDERAL CONTROL 

The history of the bill shows that Federal control was 
contemplated by the National Education Association 
Commission on the National Program in Education 
which originated the present bill. We quote Professor 
Charles H. Judd, Director of the School of Education, 
University of Chicago : 

**We have seen this bill amended two or three 
times. In the first place, the bill was adopted by 
the National Education Association in 1918. That 
bill needed radical revision and some of us said so. 
We were told to keep quiet in the hope that Congress 
would act quickly. We did until the fourth of 
March, 1919. When Congress showed no disposition 
to act quickly some of us ventured to voice our objec- 
tions to the provisions of the first bill. That bill con- 
tained exactly the provisions of the Smith-Hughes law 
with regard to Federal control of funds given to states. 
It gave control to the Federal Department of Educa- 
tion on exactly the same terms that control was given 
to the Federal Board for Vocational Education. For 

[83] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



a period of nine months that was the form of the 
bill. During these nine months there was no public 
discussion of the bill but a good deal of personal dis- 
cussion was carried on and such objection was found 
among state officials to the control features of the 
bill that by the time the bill turned up in the next 
Congress it had to be changed to secure general 
support. It was changed in such a manner as to 
give it exactly the opposite effect. No public dis- 
cussion, mark you, had preceded this change. It 
seems to me that it is fair to infer that the framers of 
this bill were without any real policy in the matter. 
They were ready to reverse themselves on cardinal 
issues to secure support. It is my judgment that we 
have a right to ask for more insight on the part of 
those who frame our bills." (University of Illinois 
Bulletin, December 26, 1921, p. 98.) 

We also give the account of the history of the bill 
furnished before the Joint Senate and House Committee, 
July 11, 1919, in the statement of Mr. L. V. Lampson, 
First Vice-President American Federation of Teachers, 
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor: 

"The facts relating to the inception and history 
of this bill should appear in the report of these pro- 
ceedings for the information of the country. They 
are in substance as follows: At a convention held in 
St. Paul, in June, 1918, upon a resolution intro- 
duced by Delegate Stillman, representing the or- 
ganized teachers, the American Federation of Labor 
went on record in favor of the creation of a depart- 
ment of education, and the annual appropriation of 
$100,000,000 by the Federal Government in aid of 
teachers' salaries. 

"Senator Kenyon: The American Federation of 
Labor.? 

"Yes, sir. At its convention in Pittsburg, held 
in June of 1918, the American Federation of Teachers 
went on record in favor of resolutions of similar im- 
port. 

[84 1 



Federal Control Inevitable 



"In conformity with these resolutions a bill was 
in the process of being drafted. In the meantime, the 
National Education Association secured the intro- 
duction into the Senate of what is known as the 
Smith Bill, which had as its object the creation of a 
department of education and the annual appro- 
priation of $100,000,000 for Federal cooperation 
with the States in the encouragement and support 
of education. Then followed the introduction of the 
Smith Bill, amended, into the House under the name 
of the Towner Bill. 

"As a result of various conferences between the 
legislative sponsors of these two bills, and the offi- 
cial representatives of the three organizations men- 
tioned, there was introduced into the House and 
Senate, at the request of the American Federation of 
Labor, the American Federation of Teachers, and 
the National Education Association, what is known 
as the Smith-Towner bill, revised." (Record of 
Joint Hearings, pp. 114, 115.) 

THE BILL LAYS SURE FOUNDATION FOR FEDERAL 
CONTROL 

The present bill already carries in it in express words 
the beginnings of Federal control in two important 
respects. 

Although setting up the very minimum of standards 
it has appeared to the proponents at the outset to be 
at least necessary that the bill should provide that the 
states should establish and maintain the following 
three standards : 

(a) A legal school term of at least twenty-four 
weeks. 

(b) Compulsory school attendance law requiring 
all children between the ages of seven and 
fourteen to attend school. 

(c) A law requiring that the English language be 
the basic language of instruction in all schools, 
public and private. 

[85 1 



Federal Control Inevitable 



The setting up of these Federal standards will require 
an investigating force in order to make sure that they 
are maintained as provided in the Act, and the bill also 
gives the power to the administrator of the Act to 
withhold the appropriation. When the Federal Gov- 
ernment begins by setting up standards, no matter 
how good or necessary they may be, and in giving 
some one the power to withhold appropriations. Fed- 
eral control has begun. 

It is indeed significant that the same bill which pro- 
vides for these huge Federal appropriations for edu- 
cation also establishes a Department of Education with 
a Secretary at the head, who is to be a member of the 
Cabinet, with an appropriation of $500,000 for ad- 
ministrative expenses, so that the necessary adminis- 
trative machinery is being set up in the very bill which 
proclaims in another section that no degree of Federal 
control is contemplated. 

WITHOUT FEDERAL CONTROL WASTE IS 
INEVITABLE 

The advocates of Federal participation and Federal 
appropriations, if they oppose all Federal responsibility 
for and control of the expenditure of the money, are 
placed in an awkward dilemma, for without control 
there will be tremendous waste of Federal funds. The 
history of subsidies even for educational purposes shows 
that Federal bonuses without any machinery on the 
part of the National Government to see to their appli- 
cation has led in the case of many states to great waste 
and in numerous cases to the sequestration of the entire 
fund to purposes entirely foreign to the purpose of the 
donor. 

WASTE OF THE LAND GRANTS 

We can find no better illustration of this than in the 
past history of the public school funds. We quote from a 
report by Professor Swift of the University of Minnesota : 

[86] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



"The domain granted specifically for schools by 
our National Government to its 30 public land 
states, 114,000 square miles, is larger than Italy, 
more than twice as large as England, more than 
nine times as large as Maryland and 23 times as large 
as the state of Connecticut. 

"Even more startling are the findings reached 
when we compare the nations and states selected with 
the total Federal area which might have been devoted 
to schools. This potential school land empire of 
233,000 square miles is more than twice as large as 
Italy, considerably larger than England and Italy 
combined, and four and one-half times as large as 
England. It would have made 47 states the size of 
Connecticut besides leaving 2,700 square miles for 
a Federal District which would be nearly three 
times the size of the present District of Columbia 
(1,000 square miles). If we add to the Federal land 
grants the area of the grants devoted to permanent 
funds by the states receiving no Federal lands, we 
.find we have as the total area which might have 
been devoted to permanent funds over 311,000 square 
miles. This is a domain almost large enough to have 
made an Italy and a France. Out of it might have 
been carved nearly three Italics; more than six Eng- 
lands; three Coloradoes; twenty-six Marylands; 
seven and a half Ohios ; or sixty-three Connecticuts. 

" Let us not dismiss this comparison without noting 
that not only in vastness of extent but that in variety 
and wealth of natural resources this school domain 
is worthy to be designated an Empire. 

"From contemplating the school heritage which 
might have been we now pass to the stern reality; 
namely, that even an incomplete record shows that 
in 32 of our states funds totalling many millions of 
dollars have been lost, diverted or squandered. In 
sixteen states, school endowments exist entirely or 
in part only as an unproductive state debt; and in 
nine states the funds annually reported as permanent 
endowments are mere fictions having no existence 

[87] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



whatever except on paper. If we confine our atten- 
tion to the thirty states receiving land grants from 
the Federal government we find that in eleven of 
these the situation parallels that just described. Let 
us not lose sight of the fact that many public land 
states have cherished their school endowments as 
sacred heritages, but in the immediately following 
paragraphs our concern will not be with these states 
but rather with those whose funds have been, diverted 
or lost. 



"The real facts in the case are that in no less than 
one-third of our states the funds reported as per- 
manent school funds are totally or largely mere 
fictions. In some states funds once accumulated 
have been diverted or lost. In other states, such as 
Michigan, Maine, and Ohio, the state has by legis- 
lation adopted a definite policy of using for its own 
purpose all monies paid into the state treasury to 
the credit of the permanent fund and establishing 
a state debt on which the commonwealth binds 
itself to pay interest at a fixed rate to public schools 

IfS 9|C 9gi ^ S^ 

"The situation revealed by the preceding table 
is a melancholy record of the outcome of the vast 
and generous grants bestowed by the Federal Govern- 
ment for the support of public schools. The story 
told is one of amazing waste of a great national gift. 
Carelessness, mismanagement, diversion, theft, em- 
bezzlement and land frauds are some of the causes 
that have played a part in the dissipation of these 
princely endowments. 

"Much of the mismanagement and many of the 
losses recorded in the last three tables were undoubt- 
edly due to the inexperience of the states receiving 
these grants, and to their lack of adequate vision of 
the possibilities of such endowments, and of a proper 
conception of the purposes of the same. Such a de- 
fence cannot be made, however, of states which with 

[88] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



generations of experience continue to mismanage or 
divert these sacred trusts. Arkansas is an example 
of a state pursuing such policies. A study of the Fed- 
eral land grants devoted by this state to her per- 
manent public school fund shows that had this fund 
been properly managed Arkansas would today pos- 
sess a permanent endowment of ninety- two million 
dollars, yielding an annual revenue of $4,600,000, 
more than 3^ of the total amount Arkansas expended 
for public schools in the year 1920. Instead of any 
such princely sum Arkansas has today a non-produc- 
tive fund whose paltry annual income of $74,000 is 
a pure fiction raised by a state tax. 

"If space permitted it would be interesting to 
trace the process by which this fund was deprived 
of the lands devoted to it by constitution and de- 
frauded by laws which gave (and still give) title to 
school lands to persons who were able to show tax 
receipts for a certain number of years but who un- 
doubtedly had no legitimate claim to the lands 
deeded them. Indeed, a study of the present as well 
as of the past laws in Arkansas would seem to show 
that the citizens of this commonwealth have con- 
ceived of their permanent fund and of the lands given 
them by the federal government for public schools 
primarily as sources of revenue to be used for the ad- 
vantage of individual citizens or to be employed to 
rescue the state from any and every financial crisis. 
As late as 1921, $180,000 in cash which had been ac- 
cumulated in the state treasury to the credit of the 
permanent fund was used to pay the state's peniten- 
tiary debt and was replaced by state paper. One of 
the most significant, as well as one of the most dis- 
heartening features of the situation is the fact that 
the transactions involved were entirely lawful, being 
in fact merely the carrying out of the provisions of 
the legislature. 

"From the account just given of Arkansas trans- 
actions, it will be seen that the story, begun long 
ago in Ohio when school lands worth $50 were sold 

[891 



Federal Control Inevitable 



for $6 and to which another great chapter was added 
when monies derived from federal grants for schools 
were employed for purposes entirely unjustifiable, 
continues today in some of our states at least." 
(Swift, "Federal Aid to Public Schools," pp. 45-48, 
50, 53.) 

FEDERAL ROAD AID ALREADY BEGINNING SHOWS 
NEED OP FEDERAL CONTROL 

An example of the necessity for Federal control as a 
consequence of subsidies is seen in the Good Roads 
Appropriation, which was passed in 1916 on the same 
"fifty-fifty" basis contemplated in the proposed Ster- 
ling-Towner Bill for education. We quote from Presi- 
dent Harding's Message to Congress, April 12, 1921: 
"Large Federal outlay demands a Federal voice 
in the program of expenditure. Congress can not 
justify a mere gift from the Federal purse to the 
several States, to be prorated among the counties 
for road betterment. Such a course will invite abuses 
which it were better to guard against in the beginning. 

"Highways, no matter how generous the outlay for 
construction, can not be maintained without patrol 
and constant repair. Such conditions insisted upon 
in the grant of Federal aid will safeguard the public, 
which pays and guards the Federal Government 
against political abuses which tend to defeat the 
very purposes for which we authorize Federal ex- 
penditure." 

This statement of President Harding, together with 
his recommendation for such amendment of the "Good- 
Roads" Act as will bring about effective supervision on 
the part of the Federal Government of the expenditure 
of the money, shows plainly enough where the Federal 
Government must finally land if it is to embark on the 
policy of great annual Federal appropriations for school 
purposes. The self-denying words inserted in this Act 

[90] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



as an afterthought furnish no permanent guaranty. 
If we are drawing the specifications for a bridge, we can- 
not make it safe by inserting words saying that the law 
of gravity is suspended. 

SUBSIDY AND CONTROL 

In reviewing the inevitable tendency of the subsidy 
policy to carry control with it, it is interesting to notice 
that in England the effect of granting subsidies to the 
local governments under the name of "grants in aid" 
is well understood. Sidney Webb, the well-known 
British economist, who has been one of the champions 
of National "Grants in Aid," says in his book on the 
subject: 

"The second reason for a system of grants in aid 
is of even greater moment than that of Equaliza- 
tion of Burdens. They are needed to give weight to 
the suggestions, criticisms and authoritative instruc- 
tions by which the central authority seeks to secure 
greater efficiency and economy of administration. 
This is indeed by far the most important aspect of 
Grants in Aid." (Sidney Webb, "Grants in Aid," 
p. 11.) 

EDUCATION NOT MORE VITAL TO NATIONAL GOVERN- 
MENT THAN TO STATE AND LOCAL UNITS 

There is a tendency on the part of some educational 
leaders to set up the Nation as a mysterious entity with 
a sort of sacrosanct character, and to claim that the 
Nation's interest in education in some way transcends 
that of the states or of the local governments. In their 
enthusiasm they overlook the fact that the common life 
of every citizen is much more intimately concerned with 
his local and state government than with the National 
Government. The low standard of education in any 
state is of far more consequence to the people living in 
that state than it is to the residents of other states in 
distant parts of the country. 

[91] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



Danger of Federalization to Educational 

Progress 

The federalization of our schools would be the worst 

possible thing for educational progress in this country. 

The danger to education has been well presented by 

President Butler of Columbia University. 

"So far as education is concerned, there has been 
over-organization for a long time past. Too many 
persons are engaged in supervising, in inspecting 
and in recording the work of other persons. There 
is too much machinery, and in consequence a steady 
temptation to lay more stress upon the form of edu- 
cation than upon its content. Statistics displace 
scholarship. There are, in addition, too many laws 
and too precise laws, and not enough opportunity 
for those mistakes and failures, due to individual 
initiative and experiment, which are the foundation 
for great and lasting success. 

"It is now proposed to bureaucratize and to bring 
into uniformity the educational system of the whole 
United States, while making the most solemn assur- 
ance that nothing of the kind is intended. The glory 
and the success of education in the United States are 
due to its freedom, to its unevennesses, to its reflec- 
tion of the needs and ambition and capacities of local 
communities, and to its being kept in close and con- 
stant touch with the people themselves. There is 
not money enough in the United States, even if every 
dollar of it were expended on education, to produce 
by Federal authority or through what is naively 
called cooperation between the Federal Government 
and the several states, educational results that would 
be at all comparable with those that have already 
been reached under the free and natural system 
that has grown up among us. If tax-supported 
education be first encouraged and inspected, and then 
little by little completely controlled by central 
authority, European experience shows precisely what 
will happen. In so far as the schools of France are 

[92] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



controlled from the Ministry of Education in Paris, 
they tend to harden into uniform machines, and it 
is only when freedom is given to different types of 
schools, or to different localities, that any real prog- 
ress is made. Anything worse than the system which 
has prevailed in Prussia would be diihcult to imagine. 
It is universally acknowledged that the unhappy 
decline in German university freedom and effective- 
ness, and the equally unhappy subjection of the 
educated classes to the dictates of the political and 
military ruling groups, were the direct result of the 
highly centralized and efficient control from Berlin 
of the nation's schools and universities. For Ameri- 
cans now to accept oversight and direction of their 
tax-supported schools and colleges from Washington 
would mean that they had failed to learn one of 
the plainest and most weighty lessons of the war. 
It is true that education is a national problem and a 
national responsibility; it is also true that it has 
been characteristic of the American people to solve 
their most difficult national problems and to bear 
their heaviest national responsibilities through their 
own action in the field of liberty rather than through 
the agency of organized government. Once more to 
tap the federal treasury under the guise of aiding the 
states, and once more to establish an army of bureau- 
crats in Washington and another army of inspectors 
roaming at large throughout the land, will not only 
fail to accomplish any permanent improvement in the 
education of our people, but it will assist in effecting 
so great a revolution in our American form of govern- 
ment as one day to endanger its perpetuity. Illit- 
eracy will not be sensibly diminished, if at all, by 
federal appropriations, nor will the physical health 
of the people be thereby improved. The major 
portion of any appropriation that may be made will 
certainly be swallowed up in meeting the cost of 
doing ill that which should not be done at all. The 
true path of advance in education is to be found in 
the direction of keeping the people's schools closely 

[93] 



Federal Control Inevitable 



in touch with the people themselves. Bureaucrats 
and experts will speedily take the life out of even 
the best schools and reduce them to dried and 
mounted specimens of pedagogic fatuity. Unless 
the school is both the work and the pride of the com- 
munity which it serves, it is nothing. A school system 
that grows naturally in response to the needs and am- 
bitions of a hundred thousand different localities, will 
be a better school system than any which can be im- 
posed upon those localities by the aid of grants of pub- 
lic money from the federal treasury, accompanied by 
federal regulations, federal inspections, federal reports 
and federal uniformities." (Columbia University 
Annual Report of the President, 1921, pp. 21-22.) 
We conclude the discussion of Federal participation 
in public school education with the closing words of the 
notable address of President Kinley, made last December 
on the occasion of his installation as President of the 
University of Illinois: 

*'The most important question of internal adminis- 
tration before the American people today is whether 
or not this onward sweep of Federal control over the 
details of their local affairs shall go on. The part of 
that question which we are considering today is 
whether it is advisable to permit it to include our 
education. Shall we accept the doctrine that we are 
destined to become a great continental democracy, 
governed in all important public activities from Wash- 
ington, or shall we try to preserve the local autonomy 
in communities and States which is necessary to the 
preservation of our liberties? If we accept the doc- 
trine that it is well to become a continental democ- 
racy, there is no need of further discussion, and 
State governments may as well be abandoned. If 
we do not accept that doctrine, but stand up 
against the present tendency, we should keep our 
State governments in substance and not merely in 
form. Above all, we should keep our education out 
of Federal bureaucratic control." (University of Illi- 
nois Bulletin, December 26, 1921, p. 46.) 

[94] 



DO WE NEED A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT 
OF EDUCATION? 

The second question referred to the committee for con- 
sideration is the coordination of the educational activities 
of the government. This question calls for a discussion of 
the proposal in the Sterling-Towner Bill to establish a De- 
partment of Education with a Secretary in the Cabinet. 
The bill provides $500,000 for the first year's expenses of 
the new Department, and provides (Section 5) — 

"that It shall be the duty of the Department of Edu- 
cation to conduct studies and investigations in the 
field of education and report thereon. 
"Research shall be undertaken in: 

(a) Illiteracy; 

(b) Immigrant education; 

(c) Public school education, and especially rural 
education; 

(d) Physical education, including health educa- 
tion, recreation and sanitation; 

(e) Preparation and supply of competent teachers 
for the public schools, higher education, and 
in such other fields as in the judgment of the 
Secretary of Education may require attention 
and study." 

It is provided by Section 3 that there is to be trans- 
ferred to the Department of Education the Bureau of 
Education and such other offices, bureaus, and branches 
of the government as Congress may determine, to be 
administered by the Department of Education. 

HISTORY OF THE PRESENT BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

The proposals for the establishment of a Bureau o£ 
Education date from 1864. In 1866 it was the subject 
of a m.emorial presented to Congress by the National 

[951 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education ? 

Association of State and City School Superintendents, 
and in 1867 an Act was passed establishing a National 
Department of Education, with an appropriation of 
$18,676, and a staff of four employees. The appropria- 
tion bill of July 20, 1868, declared that "the Depart- 
ment of Education shall cease from and after the 30th 
day of June, 1869," and in its stead a Bureau of Educa- 
tion was created and attached to the Department of 
the Interior. The purpose of the bureau was stated to be : 

"To collect (quoting Section 516) statistics and 
facts showing the condition and progress of educa- 
tion in the several states and territories and to dif- 
fuse such information respecting the organization 
and management of schools and school systems and 
methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the 
United States in the establishment and maintenance 
of eificient school systems, and otherwise promote 
the cause of education throughout the country." 
(Act of July 20, 1868, ch. 176, 15 Stat. L. 92, 106.) 

The appropriation by the Bureau has grown from the 
$8,550 provided in 1870 to $162,045 in 1921. Although 
there is a tendency on the part of the proponents of 
Federal participation to belittle the work of the Bureau, 
yet when the Bureau has possessed at its head an edu- 
cational leader it has played a useful part in the de- 
velopment of education, and any review of educational 
development in the past fifty years must give an hon- 
orable place to Henry Barnard and William T. Harris. 

ARGUMENTS FOR A DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION 

The principal arguments advanced for the creation 
of a Department of Education with a Cabinet officer at 
its head are: 
First: That it would give to education due "rec- 
ognition" of its importance and dignity in 
the life of the nation; 
Second: That it would furnish educational leader- 
ship to the nation; 
[961 



Do We Need a Federal Dejyartment of Education ? 

Third: That it would coordinate and give more 
effective administration of the many edu- 
cational activities now conducted by the 
various departments of the Federal Gov- 
ernment. 

PRESTIGE 

It is claimed that in the United States public educa- 
tion suffers because it lacks the prestige of being repre- 
sented in the Cabinet, whereas the cabinets of most 
nations contain a Minister of Public Instruction. There 
is hardly an analogy here, however, because the Federal 
Government of the United States is something unknown 
among European nations which are highly centralized 
and where education is administered by the nation. 
The Minister of Education is the administrative officer 
in charge of the administration of education throughout 
the nation. It can hardly be seriously argued, however, 
that because there is no Secretary of Education in the 
Cabinet the people of the United States are more indiffer- 
ent than other nations to the importance of education. 
It is common observation that there is no country in 
which education has a more vital hold upon the con- 
science and minds of the people than in the United States. 

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP 

With reference to the furnishing of educational leader- 
ship, it seems that this is more a question of personality 
and of creatioli of ideals than of official position. The 
great leaders in the history of education have perhaps 
occasionally held official positions but more often not. 

CONSOLIDATION OF ALL EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOT PRACTICABLE 

The argument that a Department of Education should 
be created in order to take over the administration of 
the various educational activities of the government 
now scattered throughout the Federal departments is 
urged with considerable force. 

[97] 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education? 

The Sterling-Towner Bill, however, does not specifi- 
cally provide for the consolidation under the new Depart- 
ment of Education of any of the other educational 
activities of the government, but simply provides that: 

*' There is hereby transferred to the Department 
of Education the Bureau of Education and such 
oiEces, bureaus, divisions, boards or branches of the 
government connected with or attached to any of 
the executive departments or organized independ- 
ently of any department, as Congress may deter- 
mine should be administered by the Department 
of Education." (67th Congress, 1st Session, H. R. 
7, Section 3.) 

As a matter of fact, if the bill is passed in its present 
form it is difficult to see how any progress in the so-called 
coordination of government activities will be effected. 
A further study of the nature of these activities shows 
that many of them by their very nature can never come 
under a Department of Education. The educational 
activities of the Army and Navy, for example, including 
West Point and Annapolis Academies, must be operated 
and controlled by the Army and Navy Departments. 
The Indian schools are so essentially a part of the Indian 
administration that it is impossible that they should be 
administered by a Department of Education. The 
specialized education in connection with the agricultural 
experiment stations and the various educational enter- 
prises now being conducted by the Department of Agri- 
culture are also so specialized and bear such close relation 
to the other administrative work of the Department of 
Agriculture that there seems to be no good reason for 
transferring them to a Department of Education. In 
fact. Senator Smith of Georgia, one of the proponents of 
the proposed bill in the last Congress, stated at the 
hearing before the Joint Committee in July, 1919: 

"Senator Smith: I think that some of the addi- 
tional branches of educational work might perhaps 

[981 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education ? 

be added to the Department of Education. I doubt 
whether it should invade the agricultural work be- 
cause it is a class of work while it is educational, yet 
it is work in agriculture, and I think that the farm 
extension work through the colleges is in splendid 
shape. I do not know that it ought to be transferred. 
It may be later on that the Department of Education 
will as it gets hold of the work get ready for it. We 
thought, however, that it had better grow and de- 
velop first." (Record of Joint Hearings, 1919, p. 18.) 

STATUS OF THE BOARD FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 
UNDER THE BILL 

There remains the principal other educational activity 
of the Federal Government, — vocational education under 
the Smith-Hughes Act. One of the interesting features 
of the bill is that though this bill is being pushed by 
substantially the same people and interests that were 
behind the Smith-Hughes Act, yet the bill does not pro- 
vide that this work should be administered by the 
new Department of Education. The comment of Pro- 
fessor Judd of the University of Chicago on this point is 
illuminating : 

"Many of us have felt all along that there is at 
least one fundamental objection to the first part of 
the bill. This objection was presented to the com- 
mission that formulated the bill and to everybody 
who has had charge of the bill. The bill does not 
say anything about the Federal Board for Voca- 
tional Education. It is fair to record the history 
that explains why that is so. When the commission 
was considering which branches of the government 
were to be included in the Department of Education, 
the director of the Vocational Board appeared before 
the commission and notified them that if his Board 
was included in the original draft of the bill he would 
oppose the bill ; so the commission left the board out. 

"Suppose that a new department is created. One 
of the first matters that will have to be discussed will 

[99] 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education ? 

be the question of adopting the Federal Board for 
Vocational Education into the new Department. So 
far as I can see, there are only two answers to the 
question raised: 

" (1) Either the Federal Board is to be allowed to 
go on its own independent way or (2) its activities 
will have to be taken up by the new department. If 
the Vocational Board is not absorbed we shall have 
a perpetuation of one of the most damaging policies 
that Congress has ever adopted. At the behest of 
commercial interests Congress passed the Smith- 
Hughes law and drove a dividing wedge into our 
unified American educational system. If the Fed- 
eral Government goes on separating vocational edu- 
cation from academic education it will be committing 
a grave offense against American institutional life; 
for in this country we have and ought to be allowed 
to continue to develop a unified, undivided educa- 
tional system. 

"For my part, I should be glad to see the Smith- 
Hughes law repealed root and branch." (Univer- 
sity of Illinois Bulletin, December 26, 1921, p. 98.) 
It should be noted, therefore, that those who argue 
that the present bill necessarily means the coordination 
of the educational activities of the government are labor- 
ing under an illusion, for the bill, as proposed, does not 
provide for the taking over of a single one of the edu- 
cational activities of the government, nor indeed is it 
likely for the reasons just given that if the department 
is set up any of these activities will be put in its charge. 

DANGER OF FEDERAL CONTROL 

The principal argument, however, against the creation 
of the Department of Education with an appropriation 
of $500,000 is the danger of establishing Federal control 
of our educational system. We have already discussed 
that question at length and need not refer to it further 
except to note that it is an interesting coincidence that 
the very bill which provides for the establishment of 

[100] 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education ? 

this Department also carries the appropriation of 
$100,000,000 for Federal participation in education; 
and as we have already seen as originally drafted by its 
present sponsors, it provided for a substantial degree of 
administrative control over these appropriations, al- 
though an ineffectual attempt has been made to patch 
up the bill in this respect. 

DANGER OF PUTTING EDUCATION INTO 
NATIONAL POLITICS 

The putting of a Secretary of Education into the 
Cabinet necessarily means putting the interests of educa- 
tion into national politics. This is inevitable, and as bear- 
ing upon this point it is interesting to notice that in the 
fifty-four years since the Bureau of Education was estab- 
lished there have been but six commissioners, as follows : 

Henry Barnard 1867-1870 

John Eaton 1870-1886 

Nathaniel H. R. Dawson 1886-1889 

William T. Harris 1889-1906 

Elmer Ellsworth Brown 1906-1911 

Philander Priestly Claxton .... 1911-1921 

John James Tigert 1921- 

Cabinet officers are chosen from the party in power. 
Under a Democratic administration there will be a 
Democratic Secretary of Education, and under a Repub- 
lican administration the Secretary of Education must 
be a Republican. The average tenure of office of a Cab- 
inet ofiicer during the period since 1861 has been two 
years and eight months. This indicates one of the diffi- 
culties which will be involved in seeking to increase the 
prestige of education by changing it from a bureau to a 
department. 

PROPOSED SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT 

There is a serious question, also, whether it is advis- 
able to add further to the size of the Cabinet. The 
President has already proposed the creation of a new 

flOll 



Do We Need a Federal Department of Education ? 

department, with a Secretary in the Cabinet, to be known 
as the Department of PubKc Welfare. In the draft of 
the bill presented by Senator Kenyon, it is proposed 
that there should be a Division of Education under this 
new department. Further discussion of the proposal, 
we understand, is awaiting the report of the Commission 
on the Reorganization of Government Activities. If it 
is considered necessary to add another member to the 
Cabinet, it would seem on the whole preferable that it 
should be a Department of Public Welfare along the lines 
recommended by the President, because if a Department 
of Education is created it is likely that there will be 
further departments created to represent other branches 
of public welfare, representing public health, for example, 
and perhaps eventually other social welfare activities. 

PRESENT APPROPRIATION FOR BUREAU OF EDUCATION 
SHOULD BE INCREASED 

Our review of the proposals for Federal participation 
in education and for the creation of a Department of 
Education has shown clearly the necessity for more 
comprehensive study and a deeper and sounder analysis 
of the educational problems of the nation, and one 
devoid of propaganda and the sensationalism which 
mark the present discussion. We believe it is desirable 
that there be substantial increase in the appropriation 
for the present Bureau of Education to make it possible 
for educational research to be conducted on a larger 
scale and for a greater degree of leadership to be furnished 
to educational effort, especially in the more backward 
states. However, instead of increasing the appropria- 
tion of the bureau at one jump from $162,000 to $500,000 
it will undoubtedly be more effective to make the in- 
crease gradually, and the increased appropriation should 
be based upon definite proposals for the expenditure of 
the money, which is one of the conspicuous defects of 
the proposal in the present bill for the appropriation 
of $500,000 for the proposed Department of Education. 

[102] 



APPENDIX A 

U. S. ARMY REPORT ON LITERACY OF 
DRAFTED MEN 

Transcript from National Academy of Sciences 

Memoirs. Psychological Examining in the 

United States Army. 

(Submitted to the Surgeon General of the Army as the official 
report of the Division of Psychology of the Office of the Surgeon 
General, and published with the approval of the Department 
of War.) Chapter 9, p. 7^3 f. 

"CHAPTER 9 

Literacy 

"Information on illiteracy in the drafted army was obtained 
only incidentally as it was indicated by the type of examina- 
tion given recruits. The beta examination was developed 
primarily for men who could not read and write English and 
was used for these men in place of the alpha examination 
which presupposes English literacy. The percentages of men 
taking the beta examination are available, but unfortunately 
the method of segregation for beta in different camps and at 
different times differed greatly, so that no positive definition 
of illiteracy can be laid down on this basis.* Without a defini- 
tion, statistics of illiteracy are meaningless, for men vary by 
all degrees from inability to sign their names or to read even 
digits up to degree of ability that would be classed as literate 
by any one. In general it may be said that many of the camps 
aimed at an ' ability to read and understand newspapers and 
write letters home' as a basis for the alpha examination, and 
that the figures for the numbers of men taking beta do approxi- 
mately reflect this level of literacy. Unfortunately, however, 
the degree of adequacy with which the intended separation 

* " See section on camp organization in Part I, chapter 3, section 6 (pages 
62 to 87), and the chapter on methods of segregation, Part II, chapter 5, 
especially section 1 (pages 347 to 355) . 

[ 103 ] 



Appendix A 

was made depended on chance conditions, such as the skill of 
a sergeant who separated the men, the presence of an inter- 
preter, the immediate availability of space in the beta exam- 
ination room. Camp conditions were rough and examining 
procedure was constantly being adapted to meet the ever- 
present emergency. The figures for men taking beta, given in 
this chapter, are rather the figures for the 'less literate' in 
the drafted army than for the illiterate in any strictly defined 
sense of the term.* 

"Notwithstanding these limitations the extent of illiteracy 
among the drafted men is a striking fact. The figures for beta 
are not an exact measure of this fact, and it is equally obvious 
that without a more definite measure of literacy and a uniform 
standard for the segregation of groups detailed statements 
are impossible. Nevertheless, these measures, though rough 
and varied, do indicate conditions of serious public concern. 

"The weekly statistical reports to the Surgeon General's 
Office from the camps give the numbers of men taking the 
beta examination. The usual basis of separation for beta was 
'ability to read and understand newspapers and write letters 
home.' In a number of camps, however, an educational quali- 
fication (four, five or six years' schooling) was added, and in 
a few camps an educational qualification alone was used. 
Table 279 indicates, for 28 stations in which extensive exam- 
ination was carried out, both the basis on which a man was 
considered Hterate, and the number and per cent of all men 
examined whom it was found necessary to send to the beta 
examination for illiterates." 



* "Very roughly the figures for beta correspond to a literacy of the fifth 
grade or less although the variation about this point is great. It is that to 
call fifth or fourth grade literacy ' illiteracy ' is to use the term ' illiteracy ' in 
a very different sense from the usual usage. The United States Bureau of 
the Census classifies as illiterate any one 10 years of age or over reporting 
himself as unable to write. (See Abstract of the Thirteenth Census of the 
United States, Washington, 1913, p. 239.) This classification is quite as indef- 
inite as the segregational division in the psychological service, but it repre- 
sents presumably a much lower degree of literate ability. The extent of illit- 
eracy is often largely dependent on the proportion of negroes in the group; 
this is therefore indicated in the final column. The figures cover the period 
from April 27, 1918, to the close of examining." 



104] 



TABLE 279 

Number of Men Given Examination Beta, as 
Bearing Upon the Literacy of Recruits 



Station 



Literacy Basis 



Number 
Examined 



Number 

Sent to 

Beta 



Per 

Cent 
Beta 



Per 

Cent 
Negro 



Bowie . . 

Cody . . 
Custer . 

D evens . 
Dix . . . 
Dodge 
Funston . 

Gordon . 
Grant . . 

Greene . 

Greenleaf 

Hancock 



Humphreys 

Jackson . . 
Kearney 

Lee . . . . 

Lewis . . . 

Logan . . 

Meade . . 

Pike . . . 

Sevier . . 



Read and Write, finished 4th 
grade 

Fourth grade 

Read and write; negroes, 5 
years at school 



Read and write 

Read easily, 6th grade . . . 
Read and write, finished 4th 

grade 

Read and write 

Read and write rapidly, or 

7th grade 

Read and write, 4 years at 

school 

Read and write, 4th grade, 

and 5 years U. S 

Read and write fairly, reached 

6th grade 



Read and write 

Read and write, speak Eng- 
lish and over 5th grade 



Sheridan 

Sherman 

Taylor . . 

Travis . . 

Upton . . 
Wadsworth 

Wheeler . . 



Read and write 

Read and write 

Reached 5 th grade . . . . 

Read and write 

4 years at school (later 6 

years at school) 

Read and write (later 6 years 

at school) 

6th grade; negroes, 8 years 

at school 

Read and write; negroes, 

finished 6th grade . . . 

Read and write 

Read newspapers 

Northern recruits, 3d grade; 

Southern recruits,4th grade 

Read and write, reached 6th 

grade (later 7th grade) . . 
Total 



27,464 
43,482 

54,354 
50,031 
67,768 
69,927 

75,678 
63,648 

83,229 

27,807 

56,097 

44,433 
13,981 
98,996 

18,921 
82,441 
75,519 
19,984 
65,700 
75,942 

24,139 

55,165 

64,408 

53,336 
77,555 
61,559 

67,704 



5,497 
5,003 

10,004 
11,370 
19,768 
22,701 

21,967 
16,119 

24,218 

10,512 

9,992 

12,714 

1,957 

19,587 

2,931 
23,104 
10,209 

3,769 
21,069 
21,981 

6,567 

11,985 

26,938 

10,672 
17,403 
14,486 

13,442 

10,411 



20.0 

18.8 

18.4 
22.7 
29.2 
32.5 

29.0 
25.3 

29.1 

37.8 

17.8 

28.6 
14.0 
19.8 

15.5 

28.0 
13.5 
18.4 
32.1 

28.8 

27.2 

21.7 

41.8 

20.0 
22.4 
23.5 

19.9 

31.6 



1,552,256 



386,196 



24.9 



10.7 
0. 

9.9 
1.7 

19.8 
25.4 

25.5 
10.8 

18.8 

38.6 

0.8 

5.1 

0. 

17.5 



.005 



2.2 

0.3 

20.8 

16.1 

18.7 

10.0 

30.4 

16.9 
22.0 
15.4 

6.0 

10.9 



14.2 



home." 



'Read and write " means " ability to read and understand newspapers and write letters 

rio5i 



APPENDIX B 

Number of Immigrants Admitted Unabi^e to Read 
OR Write in Any Language 



1896 . . . 


. 78,130 


1897 . . 


. 43,008 


1898 . . 


. 43,057 


1899 . . 


. 60,446 


1900 . . 


. 93,576 


1901 . . 


. 117,587 


1902 . . 


. 162,188 


1903 . . 


. 185,667 


1904 . . 


. 168,903 


1905 . . 


. 230,882 


1906 . . 


. 265,068 


1907 . . 


. 337,573 


1908 . . 


. 172,293 


1909 . . 


. 191,049 


1910 . . 


. 253,569 


1911 . . 


. 182,273 


1912 . . 


. 177,284 


1913 . . 


. 269,988 


1914 . . 


. 260,152 


1915 . . 


. 35,057 


1916 . . 


. 40,138 


1917 . . 


. 35,215 


1918 . . 


. . 3,512 


1919 . . 


. . 2,827 


1920 . . 


. . 11,395 


1921 . . 


. . 27,463 



Total . . 3,448,300 
(Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1920, p. 92.) 



[106] 



APPENDIX C 

Growth of Mexican Immigration 

Bearing upon the foreign-born illiteracy problem in some 
of the southwestern states, it is interesting to note the extent 
to which immigration from Mexico has increased in the past 
fifteen years. The statistics are as follows : 



IMMIGRATION FROM MEXICO 


1907 .... 1,406 


1908 






. 6,067 


1909 






. 16,251 


1910 






. 18,691 


1911 






. 19,889 


1912 






. 23,238 


1913 






. 11,926 


1914 






. 14,614 


1915 


« 




12,340 


1916 






. 18,425 


1917 






. 17,869 


1918 






. 18,524 


1919 






. 29,818 


1920 






. 52,361 


1921 






. 30,758 



Total . . 292,177 
(Annual Reports of Commissioner of General Immigration.) 



107] 



APPENDIX D 

Number of Aliens Admissible from Countries of 
Southern and Eastern Europe and Western 
Asia Under Immigration Act of May 19, 1921 

Quota Fiscal 
Country of Place of Birth Year 1922 

Albania 287 

Austria 7,444 

Bulgaria . .^ 301 

Czechoslovakia 14,269 

Danzig 285 

Finland S,890 

Fiume 71 

Greece 8,286 

Hungary 5,635 

Italy * 42,021 

Jugoslavia 6,405 

Poland 20,019 

Eastern Galicia 5,781 

Portugal (including Azores and Madeira Islands) . 2,269 

Rumania 7,414 

Russia (including Siberia) 84,247 

Spain 663 

Armenia 1,588 

Palestine 56 

Smyrna District 438 

Syria 905 

Turkey (Europe and Asia) 215 

157,489 
{Report of Commissioner General of Immigration, 1921, j). 18.) 



[108] 



APPENDIX E 

Statistics of Immigration and Emigration for 
Countries of Southern and Eastern Europe — 
July 1, 1921, to June 30, 1922 

Immigrants Emigrants 

Austria 5,019 579 

Hungary . 5,756 4,307 

Bulgaria 297 660 

Czechoslovakia 12,541 7,846 

Finland 2,767 1,179 

Greece 8,457 7,506 

Italy 40,319 53,651 

Poland 28,635 33,581 

Portugal 1,950 5,877 

Pumania 10,287 8,795 

Russia 17,143 6,407 

Spain 665 6,793 

Turkey in Europe 1,660 201 

Yugoslavia 6,047 9,733 

136,543 142,115 

(U. S. Bureau of ImTnigration, Bulletin 438.) 



[109 



APPENDIX F 

Average Annual Salaries of All Elementary 
AND Secondary Teachers, 1917-1918 

Annual 

State Salaries 

North Dakota . . . $578 

Oklahoma .... 571 

Nebraska 56£ 

Delaware 561 

New Hampshire . . 548 

Wisconsin 521 

Kansas * 513 

South Dakota . . . 504 

New Mexico ... 500 

Texas 487 

Louisiana 471 

Vermont 467 

Maine 44S 

West Virginia . . . 408 

Arkansas 387 

Virginia ..... 385 

Florida ...... 383 

Tennessee ..... 370 

Georgia 366 

Kentucky 364 

Alabama 845 

South Carolina . . 815 

Mississippi .... 291 

North Carolina . . 284 

Average for whole U. S. $635 
(U. S. Bureau of Education, 1920, Bulletin 11, p. Jt2.) 









Annual 


State Salaries 


District of Columbia $1,052 


California 1,012 


New York 






976 


Arizona . . . 






952 


Washington. . 






922 


New Jersey . 






911 


Nevada . . . 






874 


Massachusetts 






858 


Rhode Island 






802 


Illinois . . . 






778 


Utah .... 






754 


Colorado . . 






749 


Connecticut . 






745 


Ohio .... 






744 


Oregon . . . 






702 


Pennsylvania 






702 


Maryland . . 






687 


Idaho . . . 






685 


Montana . . 






670 


Michigan . . 






663 


Minnesota . 






651 


Missouri . . 






651 


Indiana . . . 






587 


Wyoming . . 






578 


Iowa .... 






578 



110] 



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